


Remember Me (Because I Can't Forget You)

by Aries_Fish



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Eren Yeager Has Heterochromia Iridum, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Levi is kind of punk because of course he is, M/M, Memory Loss, Reiner is a creep, Slow Build, Stalking, but not really, mild Eren/Reiner
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:27:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aries_Fish/pseuds/Aries_Fish
Summary: Eren Yeager suffers from minor memory loss after a bad fall while on a work trip. It seems like everything is coming back to him pretty quickly and easily, but what happens when someone takes advantage of his memory loss? What will Eren discover when all of the pieces start falling back into place?
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 19
Kudos: 91





	1. ...And You Are?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Fish here with a cool new fic! I'm really excited about this one and I hope you guys are too. There's definitely going to be a lot of updated tags as we move along, so please keep an eye out for them! I just don't want to give too much away by putting everything in the tags at the beginning. If you have concerns about future content being triggering or anything, please feel free to reach out! I don't plan on anything particularly bad, but I am aware that some content can be sensitive to some people, although none of it will be too dark so don't worry, but we'll cross those bridges when we get there. 
> 
> Anyway, enough rambling. As always, I hope you enjoy!

There’s a knock at the door. Loud and quick. Who would be visiting him? He’s only just come back from the hospital a couple days ago after spending a while there. They say he slipped on some ice and hit his head pretty hard, causing some minor memory loss. As scary as it sounds, the doctors said it wasn’t a huge cause for concern based on whatever tests they’d done before he was discharged. They say he might forget some people here and there, mostly newer people, but the memories will likely come back. He only has about two weeks left in this town anyway. 

Perks of being the head interior designer at his company. He’s the one who gets sent away for the big, important projects. 

Eren moves out of the kitchen, mug in hand, to check the peephole of the door. 

Huh. 

Eren has never seen this man before, and he’s sure it’s not for lack of remembering. He came here about six weeks ago and was in the hospital for one of those weeks, there’s no way he made a friend? He usually doesn’t do that on trips. 

Deciding he should just open the door and find out what he wants, Eren unlocks the door and cracks it open. 

“Can I help you?” 

“Oh, right, yeah I shouldn’t have assumed…” The man gives a sheepish grin and rubs the back of his neck. 

“Should I know you?” 

“I guess I’d normally be offended if the guy I’ve been on a few dates doesn’t remember me, but I suppose you don’t for good reason.” 

“Oh? Yeah, uhh, I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Reiner.” The man lifts his hand and Eren takes it tentatively. 

“Right.” Eren looks him over and decides it is possible he went on a few dates. The man is attractive after all. Not his usual type, but what does it really matter. “Umm, well, come in I guess?” 

“I actually just stopped by to check on you on my way out. I live a few floors up, though, again, you wouldn’t know that. I just, well I heard you were discharged and I figured I should stop by after giving you a few days.” 

“Oh, well thank you…” Eren still feels unsure, but he knows it’s not impossible that he decided to make the most of his longer-than-usual trip. He’s only a little under two hours from his hometown, but his company put him up in an apartment anyway, knowing it’d be easier for Eren to be closer to the job site. 

Most of his friends moved away years ago to pursue their own dreams, putting them all across the country. He’s made new friends, but many of them work their own hectic jobs and haven’t been able to make the trip to visit. Besides, Eren doesn’t really mind. He doesn’t want them to mother him and tell him what he should and shouldn’t be doing. Opting for text conversations instead, Eren has managed to convince them all that he’s plenty capable of caring for himself. 

It did take some pictures and videos sent from some of his newer friends and coworkers to remember them, but he’s slowly getting those memories back. It’s frustrating not knowing if all the pieces are back in place, but he knows that he at least remembers the most important people at the moment. Anyone else will come to him when they need to. 

It’s too bad he can’t remember the man in front him, but it was his short term memory that was mostly affected. 

“Anyway,” the man starts,”I should get going. I’ll see you later Eren. Oh! And here’s my number. We somehow managed to not exchange numbers, but I guess having met in the building and living near each other makes that easy.” He gives Eren a reassuring smile before handing him a small slip of paper and walking off. 

Eren closes the door and moves back into the kitchen, pulling out a bar stool to sit upon. 

He looks down at the number, written in large, sloppy handwriting. Hm. Maybe he really did go out with this guy? And who is he to deny a date with this guy anyway? Eren does find him attractive anyway and it wouldn’t hurt to have some fun while he’s still in town. 

He unlocks his phone and sifts through his messages, although if someone were to ask, he wouldn’t be able to say why exactly. 

There’s recent messages from his sister Mikasa, his best friend Armin, his roommate Jean, and some from those on the job site. He sees a few from his boss, Erwin, his coworkers Hange and Levi, and even one from his mom. 

Deciding nothing looks out of place, Eren locks his phones and goes to sit in the living room. The apartment is small, but enough space for the roughly two months that he has to be here. He managed to get sent out in mid-January, right in the middle of Sina’s lovely, harsh winter season. Trost, his hometown is much more mild than this, with only light snow every once in a while. No wonder he was unprepared and took that fall.  
He finds something to put on as background noise and decides to look through the pictures on his phone. Maybe something more will come back to him because he can’t help but feel that something major is missing from his memories.

✾✾✾

Four days have passed and it’s finally Friday night. Eren decided it wouldn't hurt to text the large blonde man that came to his door a few days ago and they agreed to go on a date tonight. He might only have roughly one more week left, but what would it hurt to go out with this guy again? They can go out, have some dinner, and maybe Eren will get some of those pesky memories back. It’s not like he wants to actually date the guy, being a firm believer in not doing long distance, he just knows he’s young and single and might as well enjoy it while he can.

Eren parks his car in the restaurant parking lot and takes note that it’s a rather quaint little Italian place. His favorite.

He makes his way inside and takes a look around, hoping to spot Reiner. Before he can look one more time, a hand rests on his shoulder, startling him a bit. 

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!”

Eren turns, hand clutching his dark green button up, and comes face to face with his date. Reiner flashes him a nice smile and runs his hand down Eren’s arm only to rest it on his wrist. 

“Hi.”

“Hey.” Eren gives him a smile back as his heart starts to beat normally again. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you in the parking lot and thought of calling out to you, but you were too far.” He shrugs. 

“Oh, it’s okay.” Eren is still very aware of the man’s hand on his wrist, but he finds he doesn’t really mind it.

“Shall we?” Reiner gestures to the host stand and gives the man his name. They both follow, Reiner still holding onto him, to a small booth along one of the front windows, giving a nice view of people walking by along the street.

“Thanks for agreeing to come out with me again.” Reiner says with his hands clasped underneath his chin. 

“Yeah of course. I mean, I suppose I should be apologizing for not remembering our first few dates.” Eren nervously laughs and rubs the back of his neck.

“Don’t even worry about it.” Reiner gestures dismissively with his hand. “I’m just glad that you’re okay is all and, of course, that pretty face of yours is still as pretty as ever.”

Eren blushes at the statement, a red dusting along his sun-freckled cheeks. 

“There’s no need to be shy about how good you look. I mean, wow, those eyes are what drew me to you in the first place.” The blonde tilts his head slightly to the right, admiring the brunet man in front of him. 

Eren knows his eyes are a subject of discussing always. Of course they would be. His right eye is a bright, vibrant green with hints of deep, ocean blue. The left eye, almost golden honey in color. The color of the sunrise. Warm. They get him a lot of attention, though he doesn’t usually mind it. It’s all harmless in the end. 

“Yeah, I suppose I can’t really blame you for that, huh?” Eren shrugs and places his hands gently on the table. 

The other gives him a knowing smile right as the waiter approaches their table. The two order their food and drinks and continue on with light conversation throughout the rest of their dinner. As they both finish their deserts, Reiner poses the question Eren knows has been coming. 

“So, you’re leaving next week, right?”

“Yeah, I can’t really help it. I don’t usually have to stay in one location for this long, but this was a particularly large project and the hotel was very specific about the things they wanted, so my boss wanted to ensure that I would have enough time to get everything done and done well. But my home is back in Trost.”

"Seems very generous of your boss to put you in an apartment and not a hotel." The blonde asks, almost accusatory, as if he assumes there's a reason for it.

"Yeah, Erwin is really great like that. He hired me and absolutely loves the work I do for his design company and pretty much gives me whatever I ask for." Eren chuckles.

"Hm." Reiner scrunches his eyebrows together, seemingly contemplating something. “Trost isn’t very far, is it?”

“No, not really. Why?” Something tells Eren he already knows the answer to this question. 

“Well, it would be pretty easy for me to visit you on weekends, or vice versa.”

“Reiner,” Eren sets his fork down,”I don’t know. I just... that’s not something I’m really into.”

He looks hurt, understandably so.

“Why?” His voice sounds harsh, abrupt.

“I mean, I don’t usually date when I’m on business trips. For a multitude of reasons, but mostly because I don’t do long distance relationships.” Eren leans back in his chair, observing the other man. He’s visibly tense, but of course it’s from the rejection. Anyone would feel that way after being told they can’t pursue a relationship with the person of their affections. 

Reiner takes a deep breath before continuing. “We can be friends though, right? Stay in contact?”

Eren feels himself relax at the sound of those words. He was honestly a bit worried there for a few minutes. 

“Of course we can.” He smiles and takes a sip of the last of his wine before checking his watch. “I should really get going, it’s a bit late.”

“It’s only nine-thiry though? I thought we could go to a bar or something.” Reiner raises his eyebrow, looking disappointed. 

“Yeah, I know. I’m a lame twenty-four year old who goes to sleep before eleven on a Friday night.” Eren laughs a little. “I just need to get some rest and get up early to finish up some last minute details before I leave. Besides, if I finish by the end of the weekend, the crew might let me head out early despite being out of commission while in the hospital.”

“You’re leaving early…?”

Not catching the undertones in the question, Eren responds. “Yeah, I mean, I’ll still be paid the same amount since the pay is really based on the work I do. My company will really be the ones saving money by having me come back early. I tend to work weekends when I’m away, which helps me get ahead.” 

“Huh, interesting.”

Eren gives the other man an odd look. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all.” He replies quickly.

“Okay…” Eren moves to pay before a hand shoots out, grabbing the check.

“Please, it’s my treat, Eren.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes, but Eren thinks nothing of it.

“Well, thank you.” 

Eren stands and waits for Reiner to follow. They walk out into the parking lot in silence and Reiner walks with Eren to his car. 

“Thanks for walking me to my car.” He smiles as he fishes his keys out of his pocket as the other stands almost too close behind him. Eren turns around fully, keys in hand, just in time for Reiner to grab his face and kiss him rather harshly.

Startled, Eren simply stands with his arms at his sides. The kiss ends quickly and Eren is left standing there staring up into the others eyes. 

“Sorry, I just wanted to do that. I thought it might bring back some more memories if I did.” He shrugs .

“Oh, well that’s okay. Umm, I’ll see you around I guess?” That nervous feeling is starting to come back, but he assumes it’s from the abrupt kiss. He turns and unlocks his car, pulling open the door and sliding in. A hand reaches out and grabs the door before he can fully close it.

“You should come by my place.”

Eren is left shocked at the bold statement. 

“O-oh, wow. I’m sorry, I really can’t. Like I said, I should get some sleep.” Eren starts to pull on the door again and the hand thankfully moves away. He starts the car and almost considers rolling down the window to say one more thing, but decides against it. As he pulls away, he sees the blonde man still standing in the same spot and can’t help but feel weird about the situation. 

Maybe it’s the memory loss making him more paranoid than usual, but he can’t help feeling like saying no was a good decision. Even if they do live in the same building. 

The drive is short and by the time he pulls into the parking lot, Eren has already lost the feeling of uneasiness that he settled in before. 

If he knew what car Reiner drove, he might try to find it, but knows that it doesn’t really matter. The other likely went off to a bar somewhere.

He makes his way up to the apartment and decides he should stay up and make sure the linen order is still set to arrive tomorrow. Package tracking is so finicky and always seems to update right at the last minute. 

As he settles into the couch, hot chocolate on the side table, blanket across his outstretched legs, laptop open, he sees a text notification show up on the top right corner of his screen. It’s an unknown number, but it’s probably safe to assume that it’s Reiner’s unsaved number. He clicks on the messaging app to open it.

 **From: Unknown**  
Thanks for coming out with me beautiful. Don’t forget me.

Weird. Eren decides he should respond, despite the message being a bit odd. 

**To: Unknown**  
Thanks for a great night! I’ll try to keep in touch.

Before he can close out the window, another message pops up.

 **From: Unknown**  
See you soon <3

Again, weird. He decides it’s likely because the guy remembers their other dates and merely has much stronger feelings than Eren can reciprocate. Although he is a bit odd, Eren doesn’t think there’s really much to worry about. Probably just a guy that gets attached really easily and is hoping to convince him one last time that he’s worth the long distance. 

Eren finally closes the text window and gets started on checking some work emails and tracking those pesky packages. An hour later, he finally finds himself crawling into bed, thoughts only briefly about the blonde man that seems very taken by him. It’s too bad he doesn’t actually live here. Maybe he could’ve given the guy a real chance.


	2. Flowers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, it's me with that quick update! I read through this chapter a couple times, so it should be good to go, but there is a lot going so if there's any confusion please feel free to ask! I'll be happy to clear things up if it isn't something that's meant to be a mystery, ya know? I also start work tomorrow, so I think I'm finally going to set up update days maybe... twice a week? I do have another fic I'm working on so I want to give love to both of them since I can't just write one at a time lol Oh! I'm also trying out chapter titles so sorry if they suck.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. I update the rating because I know this is going to start going places soon, so might as well do it now. Maybe go higher if necessary in later chapters.

It’s Monday morning and Eren is supposed to head back to Trost today. If it wasn’t for the annoying vibration pressed between his chest and the bed, he would’ve slept the morning away. He cracks an eye open to see the sun is barely starting to filter into the room, indicating that it’s still very early in the morning. Snaking a hand underneath himself, Eren grabs his phone without checking who it is. 

“Hello?” He mumbles groggily.

“Goodmorning, sunshine.”

Eren knows that voice, but can’t seem to pinpoint it.

“Who is this?”

“Your soulmate, of course.” Says the voice on the other end.

Eren’s heart starts to speed up. No. This can’t be him, can it? He thought he made it clear that this wasn’t going to be anything serious…

“Dude, chill the fuck out, it’s Jean, you idiot.”

He lets out an audible sigh. 

“What? I can’t call my favorite roommate and tell him good morning?”

“Jean. I’m your only roommate.” Eren replies, deadpan. 

“Yeah, and you could very well be my least favorite, so count your lucky stars, baby.” Jean laughs on the other end, soon acquiring a more serious tone. “What has you so on edge anyway? Something happen?”

Eren knows he could tell Jean about Reiner, but he also knows that he’s probably overreacting. The guy hasn’t even texted him since Friday night, so he probably got the hint like Eren had hoped. Besides, once he’s back in Trost, the guy will likely forget about him and move on to someone new anyway. Besides, he’d rather tell him in person if he’s going to say anything at all.

“No, I just didn’t recognize your voice is all.”

“Ahh, fair enough. Sorry I haven’t been able to call, Marco has been over helping me with midterms and I just haven’t had the time.”

“No hard feelings.” Eren gets out of bed and starts packing some of his stuff. Might as well just leave early and grab some food on the road. Erwin apparently knows the guy who owns the apartment complex, and he offered to clean it up for what Eren assumes is a decent amount of money. Oh well, less work for him. He moves the phone and wedges it between his right ear and shoulder. “Hey, I’m about to pack up real quick and then hit the road. Should be home by—” He checks the time on his phone, “About ten or eleven depending on traffic and shit.”

“Sounds good, dude.” His roommate replies around a mouthful of food. “See ya later.”

“Bye.” Eren presses the red button and tosses his phone onto his bed as he finishes his packing. 

He knows someone will come in and professionally clean, but he’s not an asshole and does end up straightening up a bit. By the time he finishes, it’s about eight-thirty, meaning he should get home around eleven, traffic permitting. He slides his phone and wallet into his pockets, grabs his two large suitcases, and heads out the door. Dragging his heavy suitcases behind him, he makes his way downstairs, not seeing anyone along the way. Was he hoping to see someone? 

“Leaving so soon, Eren?” The man named Pixis asks.

“Yeah, I actually finished up work a bit early and figured I should just go home ahead of schedule and see everyone. Let them know I’m alive and all.”

The older man tuts, shaking his head at Eren. 

“Of course you would joke about that so soon.”

Eren merely shrugs. “It really isn’t a big deal. I’m healthy and most of my memories are back so why not try to make light of it you know?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waves a large, calloused hand. “Tell Erwin I said hello and don’t be a stranger, Eren. I stop by Trost occasionally and I expect to see you when I do.”

“Of course.” Eren lightly thumps his fist against the counter and flashes the man a toothy grin before turning and heading outside. He holds the door open for a flower delivery person, receiving a small thanks as he walks to his car. 

The drive home is quick and uneventful, unless you count a trip to McDonald’s as eventful. He hasn’t bothered to check his phone and he turned it on silent when he started the drive, knowing he shouldn’t be on it in the first place. So, when he finally makes it back home and parks, he’s quite surprised to see that Pixis has called him since he left. 

Eren turns down the radio and calls Pixis before heading up to his apartment, knowing that Jean will talk his ear off when he walks in the door. 

The phone rings three times before a gravelly voice answers on the other side. “Hey, kid.”

“You called?” There’s a pause on the other end.

“Oh! Right. Right.” Eren hears some shuffling and a grunt as he assumes the man sits down. “Yeah, you seemed to have gotten a delivery after you left.”

“Huh. That’s odd, I didn’t order anything. Well, in any case, I can give you my address here and have you forward it to me.”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t necessarily do that.” 

“Why not?”

“I mean, they’d likely just die.” 

“I don’t follow…”

“It seems someone sent you some flowers. Really nice ones at that.” The older man lets out a low whistle. “Whoever it was, must have spent some good money on them.”

“Is there a note?”

“Hmmm.” There’s more shuffling on the other end before a voice comes back. “Yeah, it just says ‘Eren, I hope you enjoy these. You deserve them.’ No name though. Mean anything to ya?”

“Not particularly. They could be from one of my friends or even my mom. It’s a shame I missed them.” Eren sighs and leans his head against the headrest. Leave it to him to finish work early and have someone send him flowers, expecting him to still be there like he was supposed to be.  
“Well, could you maybe send a picture of them for me or something? You can just enjoy them, I guess.”

“Sure thing, kid. Talk later.” The lines beeps and he stares at his black screen. Why wouldn’t someone tell him? He supposes it could’ve been meant as a surprise, but it still sucks that he couldn’t enjoy them fully. Knowing there’s nothing he can do about it now, he gets out, grabs his bags, and makes his way upstairs. 

As soon as he opens the door, Eren is nearly tackled by a boy with ash blonde hair and a long face. 

“Woah there, Ponyboy, easy.” Eren laughs, lightly pushing Jean out of the way. 

“If I hadn’t missed you so much, I’d slap you.” He looks at Eren, feigning annoyance as he reaches for one of the suitcases. “I’m only helping so that you’ll tell me all about your trip sooner. I wanna know everything! Meet any hot guys? Have crazy sex? Have—”

“Jean, seriously, nothing like that happened. Well, at least that I can remember.” Eren adds, almost wincing at the thought. 

“Right. Well, in any case, I still wanna hear all about it.” The taller boy shrugs, looking back at Eren as they make their way down the hallway to the back room. 

Eren leaves the suitcases unopened just inside his door, knowing he’s just going to throw everything into the washing machine, whether or not the item is actually dirty. Less work for him in the end. 

The two boys make themselves comfortable on the light gray sofa, both with a beer in hand. Eren tells his roommate everything he can remember from the trip, even Reiner. They both agree that the guy is likely just a little obsessive over Eren and is sad that nothing will come of the relationship. 

“I can’t really blame the guy, I mean, I’d fuck you.” Jean winks at him before taking a sip of his beer. 

“You wish, Jean.”

“Honestly? I used to.” He shrugs and then leans his head back against the couch. “But that was before I met an angel on earth. The most beautiful human I’ve ever seen in my life.” There’s a soft sigh as he closes his eyes. 

Eren pulls his legs up onto the couch, folding them beneath himself and turning to face the other. “When the fuck are you going to tell him? You wait too long and he’s going to find someone else.”

Jean lets out a loud groan. “I know, you’re right. I’ll tell him next time I see him, okay?”

“Mhmm, sure.” Eren tips the bottle against his lips, tasting the dark liquid. Jean has basically been in love with Marco since the day they’ve met when Eren invited Jean to a work party. He turns into a blushing, bumbling idiot when the freckled brunette is around, but won’t tell him for some reason. It’s been about four months of this now and Eren is about ready to set them up himself. 

“When do you go back into the office?” The blonde asks as he gets up and heads into the kitchen. 

“Mmm, well, I technically don’t have to show up until the end of the week, but I might go in and surprise everyone. Erwin is the only one that knows I came back early and I told him not to tell anyone. Might be kind of fun and I do miss everyone.” 

Jeab raises his voice a little, replying from the kitchen. “Really? Everyone?”

“Yeah?”

“Even that one guy?” Jean pokes his head around the corner, one eyebrow trying to make contact with his hairline. 

“Jean, I have memory loss. I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The brunette turns his head to the right to get a better look at his roommate. 

“Right. Sorry.” He straightens up and walks back to the couch, another beer and a bag of chips in hand. “Well, you always told me you worked with some awful guy named Larry? No. Lewis?”

“Levi.” Eren tests the name out and decides it sounds right. “Yeah, I think his name is Levi. I remember seeing that name in some old messages, but I honestly couldn’t put a face to the name. I just knew I worked with him.”

“Sure. Point is,” Jean shoves a handful of chips into his mouth, “you always mentioned how much of an asshole he was and that he was scary or something.” He finally swallows and turns to Eren. “Doesn’t really matter though, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess not.” 

Eren finishes off his beer and heads to his room to finally unpack. It’s already about two in the afternoon and he knows he probably needs to do two loads of laundry. 

After setting up the first load, he heads to his room to take a well deserved nap. Although, he can’t help but feel like there’s more to this Levi person than he can remember. He sort of remembers the man Jean mentioned, but only that, as he said, the man is rather rude and abrasive. Will his memories ever fully come back to him on their own? Will he have to simply trust the word of those around him?

✾✾✾

Bright and early the following morning finds Eren making his way into a sizable glass building. Eren has worked here for two years now plus a year as an intern during his last year at university. The company works in design of all aspects. Eren’s department is, of course, interior design, mostly focusing on hotels and other big projects. Some departments are even in charge of using computer programs to render 3D models of what a space could look like. It’s a pretty big company, but they all seem to work harmoniously with one another. Everyone has an equally important job, all aiding in keeping the cogs of the machine running smoothly.

Eren definitely moved up the ranks quickly. Erwin took a liking to his work pretty early on and gave him a job straight out of college. Within another year, he was already the head of his department. A big feat for someone so fresh on the job, but he took to it like a duck to water. This isn’t to say everyone necessarily likes the position he was given. 

Annie has always been rather quiet and to herself, but once Eren got the promotion, she secluded herself even more. Only speaking to Eren when she absolutely had to. In any case, it doesn’t affect her work, so Eren isn’t too bothered by it. 

He makes his way up to his floor, the sixth, right under the top floor with all the main offices, and is greeted by an overly excited person with glasses and a head of disheveled brown hair thrown up into a ponytail. 

“Eren!!!!!!!!” The person squeezes the life out of him as he stands in front of the elevator. They pull back, examining his face. “Oh, my sweet multi-colored boy! I missed you so much! You remember me, right? Oh dear, if you don’t, I don’t—”

“Hange,” Eren places a hand on their shoulder, ‘of course I remember you. Who else could think of the crazy, but genius color combinations you do?”

They give him a cheek splitting grin and pull him back into a vice grip. Eren lets out a groan as he feels the air being pushed out of his lungs. 

“Oi, shitty-glasses, let the boy go.” A low, silky voice says from behind Hange. He knows that voice, but who is it?

Hange releases Eren and turns to the owner of the beautiful voice. 

“Oh, Levi! You know I can’t help myself when it comes to this cutie.” They hold their arms up, as if to display Eren. 

Eren finally gets a look at the man called Levi and, wow, he’s… well, he’s beautiful. Just like his voice. Blue eyes so light they’re almost gray, inky black hair parted slightly off center and styled in an undercut, pale skin contrasting wonderfully. His arms appear toned underneath his maroon button up, sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons left open, revealing delicate collarbones. His black jeans accentuate what Eren assumes are equally toned legs. Eren’s eyes finally trail back up to meet an unreadable face. 

So, this is the scary man he works with? 

“Hey, brat.” The deep voice jolts Eren back to reality and he realizes he was probably staring. 

“Uhh, hi.”

“Hi? That’s it?” His tone indicates some irritation, but it’s almost undetectable. 

“Uhhh…” Eren rubs the nape of his neck, feeling nervous. “Sorry, I do vaguely remember you, but not much. I really just know what other people have told me and the few messages you’ve sent me.”

Something akin to realization and disappointment flash across the shorter man’s face. 

“I see. I guess that makes sense then.”

Hange looks between the two, sensing that they’re missing something but knows better than to pry when it comes to Levi. 

“Well!” They exclaim, ushering Eren further inside, past Levi. “We better get a move on if you want to say hi to everyone before the chaos sets in.”

“Right.” Eren agrees as he allows the energetic person to lead him through the familiar office. He peers over his shoulder to look back at the short, black haired man behind him and can’t help but feel like there’s something more between them. Something Levi isn’t saying for some reason. Why did he seem so disappointed when Eren didn’t seem to know more about him? Granted, most of the people he forgot felt that way at first, but were more than willing to help him retrieve his memory. Thankfully, most of the time he remembered people and merely needed an update on some details. But Levi? He seems as though reminding Eren of their relationship will cause him physical pain. 

Levi watches Eren and Hange walk away and narrows his eyes, trying to figure out how to address the situation. How is he supposed to remind Eren of what they had, when no one else knows to be able to validate his story? He knows he could simply tell the boy and hope he takes his word for it, but it sounds like someone already told Eren some potentially unsavory things about him, causing the boy to formulate some thoughts about him. 

They started their secretive relationship a month before Eren left. It wasn’t anything particularly serious, but they would flirt in secret corners of the office and sometimes call each other late at night, talking about everything and nothing. They didn’t talk much when Eren left, deciding he needed to focus on the job at hand, especially with the long hours he was likely to work. They could easily resume things when he returned anyway. Levi did reach out when he found out what happened, but he didn’t want to push anything as it seemed that while Eren had a general idea of who he was, he couldn’t remember what they were to each other. Levi even heard this morning from Marco, the intern, that Eren’s roommate mentioned something about him going on a date. 

Levi was a little hurt of course, but also understood the circumstances. He figured Eren would remember more when they saw each other this morning and they could work on picking things back up, but his hopes were not realized.

Eren doesn’t remember anything. He went on a date. His roommate or someone likely convinced him that Levi is someone he used to hate. Unfortunately, due to the secretiveness of their relationship, many people did believe that Eren felt the way most other people in the office did. That Levi was unapproachable and rude. The resident grump of the office. 

Eren saw past that though. 

Or at least, he used to. 

Now, Levi watches as his beautiful boy walks away from him, and wonders if they will ever be able to rebuild what they once had.

✾✾✾

Eren makes his rounds in the office with Hange, thankfully able to remember most of the people here, seeing as they’ve all worked together for quite some time. He doesn’t seem to recall recent memories with some of them, but they understand.

Hange pulls him over to what he assumes is their desk and insists he sits and talks with them while they work.

“How does it feel to be back?” They peer at him over their glasses.

“It’s great honestly. I really did miss you guys, I’m not used to being gone this long.” He leans back and props his feet on their desk, receiving a small glare in return.

“You’re lucky you're my favorite, or I’d smack those large feet of yours for getting anywhere near my precious computer.” Hange leans over and pokes his ankle and he gives them a cheeky grin. 

“Yeah yeah. So, I have a question...” Eren pulls his feet down and scoots his chair closer to the desk, hoping to not be overheard. “What’s up with Levi?”

“Hm?” Hange blinks a couple times before registering the question. “Oh! Shorty?” Eren nods in agreement. “I mean, I adore the grumpy man, but most people around here find him off putting. It’s such a shame too, he’s such a softy once you really get to know him. Why do you ask?”

Eren rubs his chin as he contemplates how to answer the question. “Well, he just seemed a little odd when I spoke to him earlier. Like there’s something I’m missing, but that he doesn’t want to say what it is.”

Hange furrows their brows and looks at Eren. “Well, I suppose it could be because you two worked so closely and he expected you to remember more? He is in charge of all the budget stuff for our department. I just don’t recall you two ever being particularly close or anything. Like I said, most people don’t care for him and I didn’t think you felt much different.” They give him a sad smile.

“Sorry.” He replies sheepishly. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance maybe? You seem to like him enough, so he must be a good guy.”

“Don’t worry your cute little head about.” They reach over and ruffle his hair, causing some pieces to fall into his face. “Just talk to him. He thinks you're cute, so maybe he’s just nervous.” Hange claims nonchalantly, as if it’s a known fact.

“What?!” Eren mouth falls open, eyes wide.

“Oh… right. Umm, maybe don’t mention that to him? He didn’t really say it outright and he was kind of drunk when it came up the other night. I don’t think he wants anyone to know.” 

Oh, uhhh, okay sure.” Eren runs his hand through his hair and tries to fix any messed up pieces that fell out of his bun. “Well, maybe I should go—”

Hange darts a hand out, grabbing Eren’s wrist. “Wait, don’t go yet!”

“Why…”

They don’t answer, only giving him a very mischievous grin. 

Knowing Hange, this can’t be good.


	3. Of Phone Calls and Coffee Shops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! So, I think I'm going to set up an update schedule for Mondays and Thursday! I don't think I'll set a specific time, just know that I'll likely update on those days. With that said, the chapter is really dialogue heavy (as are most things I write lol), but it's all important! I just hope it doesn't effect the quality of the chapter or anything. Also, I'm fiddling with some formatting stuff to make everything easier to read, hopefully you guys don't hate it!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy! :)

“So, Eren, tell me all about this date you had!” 

Hange leans against the table, sitting across from him. Marco sits to their left and Historia sits next to Eren. She’s a sweet, blonde girl who went to college with Eren and now works alongside Hange; the only one able to handle their erratic behavior with a smile on her face.

“Guys, listen. It was nothing, really. I don’t want anything with him anyway, I mean he lives hours away.” Eren rests his chin in his right hand, picking at the fries in front of him. The three friends decided to take an extended lunch break with Eren in order to catch up and he’s slowly regretting it. 

“But Eren!” Historia grips his arm, shaking him lightly. “What if he’s your soulmate or something and you guys are meant to be together? I mean, he even came by your place to ask you out again.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Eren rubs his arm where her hands once were, feeling unsure. 

“Eren,” Marco reaches across the table to snag a fry, “I think she might be right. You said he’s attractive, albeit a little awkward. But who isn’t? Take Jean, the guy turns into a stuttering dork whenever we hang out and has the audacity to think I don’t notice.” He winks at Eren and he can’t help thinking that Marco is a lot more cunning than he lets on. 

The other two nod in agreement and Eren feels outnumbered. Just then, his phone goes off and he retrieves it from his back pocket. 

> **From: Reiner**  
>  Hope you made it home okay. Sina is gloomy without you.

He can’t help but smile a little at the message, despite the sender. The moment is short lived, however, as he remembers the uncomfortable feeling he had in his gut while on a date with the guy.

“Something wrong, kiddo?” Hange asks, concern dripping from their voice. 

Eren furrows his brow. He should really tell them the details he left out the first time he told the story. As much as he doesn’t really want to tell it again, maybe they can shed some light on the situation for him. 

“Not really? It’s just, well, I got kind of an odd feeling when I was out with him. I can’t quite put my finger on it though.”

“Did he say anything weird?” Marco inquires as he leans his forearms against the table, closer to Eren. 

“Not directly, no. I can’t even tell you one specific thing he did, it was just a feeling I got.” 

The other three look between each other, trying to understand the situation. 

“Well, have you heard from him other than just now?” Historia asks, leaning on her right arm to get a better look at him. 

“No, actually. He’s a nice guy too, he just seems kind of infatuated with me. I’m hoping he’ll just forget about me soon.” Eren takes a sip of his drink and picks at his nails, trying to figure out what to make of the situation. 

The silence is broken by Hange reaching up and poking his cheek. “I don’t think anyone could forget about you, look at that face!” 

Eren playfully swats her hand away and can’t help but smile. With Armin and Mikasa gone, these three have become some of his closest friends, Jean included. 

“Ugh I guess, but this time, I really hope he forgets about me. I just can’t help feeling as though I’m forgetting something important about him though…” The brunette pulls his brows together, frustrated by his circumstances. 

On one hand, there’s Reiner, the guy who is seemingly infatuated with him in every way, but lives two hours away and is also a bit of an odd guy. On the other hand though, there’s Levi. Striking in his own right, despite his apparent grumpiness. Hange even said the man found Eren attractive, but who’s to say they would actually get along if Eren approached him? Should he even try? If the man is as unapproachable as everyone makes him seem, would he just push Eren away? How old is the guy _anyway_? 

“Should I reply?” Eren asks the group as he unlocks his phone on the table. 

“Well, do you even want to talk with him after everything you’ve told us?” Hange makes a good point. He really isn’t under any obligation to respond to the guy in the first place. 

Deciding against it, Eren pockets his phone, knowing he really doesn’t want anything from the guy and that replying will likely just lead him on. 

Hange begins to stand from the booth, straightening out their shirt. “We should really get back to work you two.” They look between Marco and Historia. “Eren, see you tomorrow?”

“Mmm, yeah I think so. I was going to put it off another day, but I’ll probably just be bored and come by anyway. I’ll just run my errands today.” He grabs one last french fry then slides out, letting Historia get up behind him. 

“Sounds good, kiddo. Don’t get into too much trouble.” They try to pinch his cheek, but Eren knows all of Hange’s moves so he ducks out of the way just in time. At least some things stuck with him after the accident. 

The three bid him goodbye and all pile into Hange’s car together. Why Marco or Historia would let Hange drive in the first place is a mystery to him, but he has a feeling it probably has something to do with them offering to pay for their meals.

Not wanting to head home just yet as it’s only about one in the afternoon, Eren heads down the street to a coffee shop he usually frequents on his long work days. A girl named Sasha owns the place and makes the most mesmerizing drinks and pastries. If Eren found himself attracted to women by some odd chance, he would definitely marry her simply for the heavenly creations she can make. 

He pushes the door open and his entrance is signaled by a tiny bell hanging above the door. None other than Sasha greets him excitedly, talking a mile a minute about how much she missed him and asking how he’s doing. He politely fills her in and manages to order some coffee and a muffin in between her onslaught of questions. 

She hands him his order while saying, “We’ll have to catch up officially sometime! I have so much to tell you!”

“Of course, Sash.” Eren tells her happily as he turns to find somewhere to sit. 

Unfortunately many of the seats seem to be taken except for a small table in a dark corner in the back. He’d rather sit somewhere with a little more sunlight, but he also can’t really be picky in a moment like this. Right as he’s about to make his way to the lonely table, he spots a head of shiny, black hair. ‘Hm, maybe he won’t mind?’ Eren thinks to himself. Hange did tell him that Levi likes him, so what harm could it really do?

The brunette stands up a little straighter and makes his way over to Levi’s table. He stops right next to it and clears his throat, hoping to get his attention. Levi peers up with just his eyes and they almost imperceptibly soften at the sight of him. The man gestures to the seat across from him with a hand and waits for Eren to get comfortable before speaking. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Long, slender fingers grip the mug in front of him by the rim and Eren finds the action familiar. 

“Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to be at work?” Eren retorts.

Levi simply snorts. “Yeah, but Erwin lets me leave when I’m done with my work. He knows I finish up early sometimes and just get annoyed and restless sitting in the office doing nothing.” 

“Are those the days that cause everyone to be afraid of you?” It slips out before Eren can stop himself and he wishes he could turn back time and never say that. 

The other man only shrugs. “Probably. Although, if I remember correctly you weren’t one of those people.” A smile plays at the left corner of his mouth and Eren feels his heart warm just a little at the sight of it. 

“Really? I wish I remembered.” Eren cocks his head to the right a bit and inspects the enigma in front him. How can someone who seems so cold and stoic upon first impressions, be so easy to actually talk to? Hange might be right about this guy. 

“Mhmm,” Levi fiddles with the watch on his wrist, not meeting his gaze, “we were actually quite close before, you know, the accident.”

They _were_?????

“You’re serious?” Levi nods in agreement. “Okay, but why haven’t you said anything yet? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, I wanted to give you space and didn’t want to overwhelm you. I also thought you would remember more when we saw each other this morning and then I heard you had a date while you were gone…” His thin black brows pull together. “I just didn’t know what to say.”

Eren can’t help feeling frustrated at the man. If he had just spoken up in the beginning, maybe Eren never would’ve had that weird date in the first place. 

“You should’ve said something. I mean, I’ve been taking all of this pretty well, thank you very much.” The brunette leans back and folds his arms over his chest. “It seems kind of weird that you wouldn’t say anything right away, you know. Jeez, for all I know you could be lying to me.”

Levi rests his jaw in his right hand, an almost bored expression on his face. “And why would I do that?”

“W-well, to convince me to date you or to mess with me or something. I don’t know?!” Eren throws his hands up in frustration.

Levi exhales as he leans back a bit. “Eren, I would never do that. I’m thirty years old, I don’t have time for shit like that. Besides, that’s partially why I kept quiet in the first place, I didn’t want you to think I was taking advantage of the situation.”

“Oh…” Eren scrunches his face in confusion.

A pale finger makes it way towards Eren’s face and stops in between his brows. 

“You always do this when you’re frustrated and you pout like a five year old.”

“I do not!”

Levi raises an eyebrow, silently stating that he’s made his point. 

“Okay, fine.” Eren uncrosses his arms and places them in front of him on the table. 

“So, do you believe me or not?”

“I want to, but I really don’t know. No one in the office seemed to mention anything about us, and I would think they’d say something when I asked.”

“You asked about me?” There’s a playful tone in Levi’s voice.

“I asked about everyone…” Eren almost mumbles, embarrassed by his admission. 

“Sure you did, brat.” The other man leans back and pulls up one foot to rest his ankle on the opposite knee, arm slung over the back of the chair. 

Something small registers in Eren’s memory. Faint but definitely there. 

“You used to call me that…”

“I called you that earlier too, you know.”

“I was a little too distracted to notice, honestly.” Eren smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. 

“So you were.” He smiles behind his mug as he takes a sip of his tea. Maybe it won’t be so hard to get back to where things were before. 

“So, what then? We can’t really pick back up where we left off unless everything comes back to me all at once and I don’t see that happening.”

“No, you’re right. However, I don’t mind starting over, you know, if you want.” Levi moves to rest his elbows on the table, face close enough that Eren can see the speckles of blue throughout his eyes. 

“I guess…I just, well, it sort of makes me nervous.”

“Why is that?” Levi hopes it’s not something about him personally that makes the boy nervous.

Eren takes a few minutes to summarize the story with Reiner and how something doesn’t seem to sit right with him about the situation. 

“Hmm, so what do you think happened with this guy? I mean, there has to be a reason your subconscious is causing you to feel this way.” Levi tries to hide how nervous the story about this guy makes him feel. Something doesn’t sit quite right with him. 

“That’s the issue, I have no clue. He said we met in the building, which makes sense as to how he knew where I lived, especially if he’s being truthful about us going on dates before. Although, I don’t even know how true that is.” Eren’s right leg shakes nervously as he racks his brain to remember even just a sliver of something. 

“Hm. Well, the good news is that he lives two hours away and you’ll likely never see him again.” Levi hopes he’s being reassuring enough because if there’s one thing he doesn’t like, it’s seeing Eren upset. 

“Yeah, you’re right. I wonder if he visited me at the hospital. He seemed to know about what happened without me mentioning it to him and I did receive a lot of get well gifts without names on them.” Eren begins to wonder if there’s a way to contact the hospital and find out. Would they even have a record of something like that?

“Speaking of which, did you get the flowers I sent you?”

Eren perks up at that. “Oh! The ones sent on Monday? I just barely missed them and I was wondering who sent them. The guy that runs the place I was staying at said they were pretty expensive and I guess now it makes sense that they came from you after everything you’ve said about us before.”

Levi slowly pulls back and gives Eren a worried look. 

“Eren… I didn’t send you those. In fact, none of us actually knew the exact place you were staying at. Only Erwin knew and it’s not like him to send flowers personally or to give out an address, even if it is to one of us. We all sent gifts to the hospital because Mikasa was able to find out where you were at for us.”

Suddenly the air feels heavy and thick. There’s goosebumps on his arm and now he knows something isn’t right here. 

“Do you think it was that guy then?” Levi hopes this is all some sort of weird set of coincidences. “It would make sense for him to send flowers considering he knew where you were staying. But why wouldn’t he just deliver them personally?”

“Maybe? I should call Pixis and see what he knows.”

Eren pulls out his phone and quickly dials the number, thanking his lucky stars that the man answers after two rings. 

_”Pixis.”_

“Hey, it’s Eren.” He replies, chewing nervously on his nail. Levi listens closely across from him.

_“Eren! Calling so soon? Did you miss me that much?”_

Eren laughs, but without any real heart behind it. “I uhh, actually called to see if you could help me out with something.”

_”Sure thing, kid. What’s goin’ on?”_

Knowing this information could change the trajectory of his life, Eren hesitates before asking.

“Is there someone who lives in the building by the name of Reiner?”

_”Well, I can’t outright give you that info, but maybe if you describe him, I can tell you if I’ve seen the guy around?”_

“Ah, yeah okay. Well, he’s probably about six foot two, blonde hair in a buzz cut, built like a damn brick wall. I think I noticed a tattoo on his wrist, but I couldn’t get a good look past his sleeve. Uhhh, he also said he lived a couple floors above me.”

The silence on the other end is deafening. 

_“Kid, I don’t know how to break it to you, but I personally know almost everyone in the units on the floors above where you were, and no one matches that description. Those people have lived there for years.”_

Eren can’t help the shocked look on his face. What does he mean no one fits that description? 

“Are you sure? Maybe he’s a friend or something?” His eyes dart up to meet Levi’s and he can tell the other man is trying to listen to the conversation. Eren averts his gaze and resumes chewing on his fingernail, leg practically vibrating under the table. 

_“Yep. Positive. Is something wrong? You sound tense…”_

“Uhh, n-no. I just, I was just curious about him is all. Thank you.”

He hangs up before Pixis can respond. He knows it’s rude, but he can’t help it. What the hell is going on…

“I take it he didn’t have good news?”

Eren runs both hands through his hair before looking up at Levi again. 

“No. He said no one with his description lives in the building. So, how did he know where I live?”

The black haired man reaches across the table and gently pulls Eren’s hand away from his mouth, lightly holding onto it in reassurance. “You said he told you that you guys went on some dates right? That must be it. Maybe you invited him over?” As much as Levi doesn’t want to entertain that thought, he knows he has to ask. They were never official, meaning Eren would realistically have every right to go on a date if he wanted to. 

“That doesn’t seem right though.” Eren grips the hand tighter, grounding himself in Levi. “If what you say about us is true, I wouldn’t have done that in the first place. I don’t like to date more than one person at a time, even if it’s not official. On top of that, it’s very unlike me to want to make connections on business trips, which is why it seemed odd in the first place when he mentioned it. I just assumed I must have decided to go along with it for some reason, but it’s likely that he simply lied about that fact.” Eren gives Levi a small smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Levi feels slightly relieved at the confession, although it’s short-lived. What the hell is the situation with this guy? What does he want with Eren?

“Well, I guess there’s not much we can do unfortunately. Thankfully he doesn’t know where you live or even specifically where you work out here.”

Those words should make Eren feel better, but they don’t. They only serve to make him feel worse. 

“That didn’t stop him from finding me the first time though…” He says as he gently pulls his hand away. There’s so much that isn’t adding up about the situation and Eren wishes he could just remember everything and know the truth of what happened. He must have met the guy at some point, but how much of Reiner’s story about it is actually true?

“I’m sorry, Eren. I wish I could help you more.” Levi’s eyes soften with sympathy.

“It’s alright.” The look on his face is one of pure defeat. “I should go home and let you get back to whatever you were doing.” He gets up and pushes his chair in and despite his rather tall stature, he looks so small in that moment. 

“Oh, okay sure.” Levi almost gets up to hug him or something, but Eren starts walking away before he has the chance. He gives him a small wave and one last look over his shoulder as he walks away. A faint ‘thanks Levi’ can be heard before he pushes through the door and heads down the street. 

Levi collapses back against his chair and runs a hand through his hair in frustration. He needs to find out what the deal with this Reiner guy is. He clearly wants something from Eren if he went out of his way to lie this much and to find out where the kid was staying. It makes him uneasy and he looks around the coffee shop, feeling as though someone is watching him. There’s no one there that he doesn’t recognize as other regulars and he knows he’s just on edge from everything they just found out. 

He also can’t help thinking about their conversation beforehand. Levi felt like he was actually getting through to Eren, even just a little bit. But what if this situation puts a halt on their progress? He knows it’s not his fault, but that doesn’t stop him from taking some of the blame. Eren was right, maybe if Levi had spoken up sooner, none of this would’ve happened. But how could they know for sure?

Would the blonde guy still have an obsession with Eren? Probably. 

Levi gets up and heads out to his car. He needs to find a way to keep Eren safe and keep that guy from doing something stupid because something tells him that Reiner won’t be staying in Sina for long.


	4. Office Romance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, gals, and non-binary pals! I'm back with an update that I hope you'll enjoy. This chapter ended up a lot shorter than I wanted it to be, but work has been kicking my ass so hopefully the next will be longer! It was really meant as a means to move things along, so yeah. Also, I apologize for any typos or what have you, I read through it once and deemed it good lol 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

Eren has been back at work for a week now without incident. He and Levi talk here and there at work even though he still can’t remember much of anything about their previous relationship. It makes him feel bad knowing that he has to start all over with the man, even though he did offer to. And now he’s been dragged into this incident with Reiner. 

It’s when Eren is sitting at his workstation in the back office, figuring out dimensions for a few furniture pieces in a new business, that Marco peeks his head in the door. He lightly knocks on the door jam, getting Eren’s attention. 

“Hey, you have a phone call on line one. Do you want me to take a message, or do you have a minute?” The freckled boy moves more into the doorway fully and leans against the frame, arms crossed.

Eren looks up and pulls his glasses off, scrunching his eyebrows. “Who is it?”

“Mmm, he didn’t say. Just asked for you and was wondering if you had a minute. Probably someone wanting to pitch an idea or something.” Marco waves his right hand around, pen held loosely between his fingers. “I can tell them you’re too busy.”

Eren pinches the bridge of his nose before pushing up from his stool. 

“It’s fine, I’ll take it. I need a break from this project anyway, it’s going to give me a migraine if I look at it any longer. Just transfer it to the phone at my desk in my office.” He says as he collects his papers from the table. 

“Sure thing, boss man.” Marco replies with a little salute before smiling and making his way back to his desk. 

The last thing Eren wants is to deal with a new client, but clients mean money and Eren would love to move out of his apartment at some point in his life and he can’t do that if he doesn’t have work. Besides, he knows he loves his job and that he’s quickly becoming one of the best in the business. Although, he secretly hopes it’s a small job because after the big project he just finished, he would love nothing more than something quick and easy in comparison. 

As he walks to the desk in his office, he fixes his bun and rolls up the sleeves of his cardigan, getting comfy and ready for a potentially long phone call. He might not be in charge of finances, but he can typically give the client a pretty good ballpark idea of what things might cost and what is even doable before sending the paperwork over to Levi for more official numbers. The desk chair creaks underneath him as he sits down and he makes a mental note to see about ordering a new one later.

“This is Eren, what can I do for you?” He answers as he cradles the phone under his right ear and pulls over a pen and some paper just in case.

 _“Hello Mr. uhhh? What was your last name?”_ The clearly male voice on the other end questions. 

“Yeager. My last name is Yeager, but you can just call me Eren.” 

He hates the formalities, it makes him old and like his dad.

_“Ahh, I see. Well, Eren, I just called with a few questions and I was hoping you could help me out.”_

“Of course! What were you looking to do?”

 _“Well, I’m actually moving to Trost pretty soon here and I wanted to completely redo the whole place before I move in, but I don’t know the first thing about interior design.”_ The man laughs on the other end.

“Right. I normally work on much larger projects, such as hotels and big business, but I do have some down time at the moment and would be happy to consider working with you on something. How big is the home?”

_“I actually haven’t officially found a place yet.”_ The man explains to Eren’s surprise. 

“Oh... interesting.” Eren sits up a little straighter in his chair. It’s not often he comes across a situation like this. He isn’t used to working without a layout or blueprint of any sort to go off of. “So, what exactly would you like me to do then considering you don’t have a place picked out? Typically clients already have a place, which allows me to better visualize what will work in the space.”

The voice laughs softly. _“I understand this is unorthodox. I was actually wondering if you might have some recommendations on homes or even apartments in the area? Maybe—”_

“Sir, I’m sorry, but that’s not something I really do. I’d be happy to help with the design aspects of your place when you’ve finalized a location, but until then, there isn’t much I can do other than discuss maybe color schemes and things like that.” Eren uses the pen in his hand to rub his temple in frustration. He can’t help but feel confused as to why this client would call an interior designer and ask him for home recommendations. It’s very strange to say the least. 

_“Of course, of course. I mean, you have to have a location you suggest at least right? I’m sure you live in a great part of town. Maybe there’s even some units in your apartment complex or a house for sale in your neighborhood?”_

‘What the fuck?’ the brunette thinks to himself, turning in his chair to look out the glass walls of his office. He catches Hange’s gaze and gestures for them to come over to him.

“I’m not really comfortable with answering that, sir. Where I live is private.” Hange catches the tail end of the conversation and understandably looks concerned. They motion for him to put it on speaker phone and he obliges.

 _“Well of course, I wouldn’t ask for your exact location.”_ A deep laugh flows through the speaker. _“I just thought you might be able to tell me a little about your general area, you know?”_

He looks at Hange as if to say ‘You’re hearing this too _right_?’ and they nod slightly, quietly pulling a chair around the desk to sit next to him.

The other man continues, _“Who better than a local and an interior designer to help me pick the perfect place, right? Are there any good restaurants near you that you recommend? Maybe a good bar? Some shopping? I love places that are walking distance if possible.”_

The two share a look and Eren knows this can’t just be your average client. Sure, people ask for recommendations all the time, but something about the way this guy is so adamant about knowing the area Eren lives in is unsettling. Most people just ask about Trost in general, not his specific neighborhood.

Trying to remain professional and calm, Eren responds, “Again, sir, I’m sorry, but I’m not comfortable with giving out that kind of information. I’m sure you could find plenty of that information online as well as from a realtor. I don’t believe I got your name, by the way, what was it?”

Eren’s only answer comes in the form of a cold laugh, followed by the beeping of an ended call.

“Eren…” Hange moves closer to him, clearly uneasy about the phone call. 

“You don’t think? No. I mean? Could it?” Their eyes meet and Hange wishes they had more encouraging words to say, but they both know the likely truth here. 

They reach over and carefully grab his hand. “Eren, I think this is turning out to be a lot more serious than any of us ever anticipated.” 

“What’s more serious?” A low voice asks from the doorway. Both brunettes turn their heads to see Levi standing there, arms crossed, with a blank look on his face. He pushes off the door with his shoulder and walks over to stand next to Eren’s chair. “Well?” He lifts an eyebrow at them. 

“Uhhh,” Eren looks up at the intense grey eyes staring down at him, “I got a weird phone call.”

Levi snorts and moves to lean against the desk, his back facing the doorway. “Kid, I get weird phone calls all the time. Granted, most of them come from Shitty-glasses over there, but the testament still stands.”

Hange and Eren share a look that leaves Levi slightly confused before Hange finally speaks up. “Levi…” Hange sounds worried, making Levi second guess what this is about, “we think the caller might have been Reiner. It seems like he was trying to get personal information on Eren’s whereabouts.”

“Are you fucking serious? What the fuck? Now I’m really hoping you two shits are joking.” He narrows his eyes at them. 

“Levi, Hange is being dead serious. Something about that call didn’t sit right me and it only makes sense that it would be him. He was trying to find out where I live and where I work, or at least trying to narrow down the area. I-I think he’s planning to come out here to find me…” 

Instinct tells him to reach for Levi’s hand that’s resting on his desk and he’s grateful when the other man doesn’t pull away. He couldn’t even begin to explain why this felt like the right thing to do, but it does. Is this something from his subconscious trying to remind him of their relationship? Levi gently rubs his thumb over the younger man’s hand, trying to calm him down. The two men look over to see Hange looking between them, a devious smirk on their face.

“What?” Levi snaps at them.

“Ohhhhh, nothing.” They wave their hands at Levi. “Not important right now. On a serious note, what is important is alerting other staff members to this situation. Tell them to be wary of suspicious phone calls or things like that and, now more than ever, to make sure they’re not giving out any personal information. And not even just Eren’s, everyone here. Who knows what he’ll use to try to get close.”

The thought causes Eren to shudder. “You’re right. It’s scary, but clearly he’s willing to do a lot to find out where I am.”

“Unfortunately it does seem that way. I’m going to head out and talk to someone about sending out that message to everyone by the end of the day.” Hange gets up and moves their chair back to the front of Eren’s desk before heading towards the door. “Shall I close the door for you two?” They ask, trying to feign innocence in their question.

“Fuck off, Hange.” Levi tells them without even turning around. The only sounds they hear in response is the wild laughter of the other brunette and the soft click of the door. 

The lack of Hange’s presence somehow makes the two boys more aware that they’re still holding hands and they both look down, wondering if they should let go.

Levi inevitably makes the first move and starts to pull his hand away whispering a low apology. However, before he can fully remove his hand he sees long, tan fingers grasp at his again. He looks at Eren to see a shy look on his face.

“Sorry, I uhh, I just kinda like this.” Eren averts his eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed, although it doesn’t last very long. He notices the other man lean closer to him, slowly reaching his free hand up to gently grasp his face. He closes his eyes at the feeling of the cool hand touching his cheek. Something about this feeling is familiar, as if he’s found comfort in this before. 

Eren feels his thumb lightly brush against his cheekbone and he finally looks up to meet Levi’s eyes. Is this what he’s been missing out on because he couldn’t remember anything? If he knew how great it would feel to have Levi this close, he would’ve jumped into the man’s arms the second he saw him. 

It looks as if Levi is about to say something, but Eren cuts him off before he gets the chance. “Come home with me, Levi.”

Levi stops the movement of his thumb against the others cheek, taken aback by the bold statement, although not opposed to it. 

“Are you sure? What makes you say that?” His tone is light, almost hesitant. 

Eren reaches up, holding Levi’s hand in place. “Because, I’m tired of waiting for my stupid memory to come back before doing anything. I just— I don’t wanna wait anymore and I don’t want to necessarily start over and take my time. Being here with you feels right and I’m going to trust my gut about it. About you. I don’t know where things were with us before, but I want to do this. You know, if you want?”

The smile that crosses Levi’s lips is enough to send Eren’s heart into a frenzy. This man is everything he could want and he can feel it in his gut. 

“If you’re sure? I don’t want to rush anything because you feel like you have to. Besides, we were still pretty secretive about this before you left. Not for any bad reason, just for the sake of staying out of office gossip. But does this mean you want people to know now?” 

Taking both of the man’s hands in his and holding them between their bodies, Eren sees a multitude of emotions crossing Levi’s eyes, but the one at the forefront of everything is hope. 

“Of course I’m sure. If we’re going to do this, I want to do this right. Whatever the hell that means for us.” He laughs, noticing that Levi is chuckling a bit too. “How could I even think to keep a man as beautiful as you a secret. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking before, but I don’t want that now.”

“Well, as much as I’ll miss sneaking around to make out, I’ll take being public with you over that any day.” Levi says, his gaze soft and full of emotion, something reserved only for Eren, even if he doesn’t know it. 

“Who says we can’t still sneak around and make out in the office?” Eren winks at the other, flashing him a cheeky grin. 

“You horny brat.” Levi smacks Eren’s shoulder lightly and rolls his eyes but he’s clearly struggling to hide his smile. 

“So, does this make us official then? Are we… well, you know, boyfriends?”

Levi shakes his head, chuckling a bit. “If that’s what will make you happy, then sure.”

“Well, then as my boyfriend, I believe you have a lot of kisses to make up for. We’ve got a lot of lost time here you know?” Eren says in a playful tone while getting out of his seat to stand in front of Levi. 

“Why the fuck did I agree to date you again?”

Eren just shrugs as he caresses the others face leaning in for a kiss. It’s enough of an answer for the both of them.

The two enjoy their time together, momentarily in blissful ignorance of the problem they know they need to deal with. All that matters in that moment is the feeling of their lips moving together, reacquainting with one another, slowly but surely making up for lost time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to give a quick thank you to anyone that is reading this, has commented, left kudos, anything like that! It warms my heart to know that people out there are enjoying this :')


	5. All Black With a Hint of Blue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! So, I know I said I'd update on Mondays and Thursdays, but I'm probably going to be too busy and I had the day off today so I was able to crank out this nice little chapter for ya. I might update again if I can write another, but who knows. Also, any comments and kudos are so appreciated! You guys don't know how much it means to hear from you, seriously. I forget to respond sometimes, but just know that I do read them!
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

“Is this a joke?”

“What?”

“I just… well, I guess I don’t know what I actually expected.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Eren, your apartment looks so, well, bland? And you’re, you know, not.”

Levi and Eren stand in the doorway of the apartment as Eren nervously rubs his arm. He looks down at Levi, not sure what to say anymore. He always gets shit for his apartment considering what he does for a living, but he really can’t be bothered to care about a place that isn’t permanent for him. The place doesn’t look bad by any means, it just doesn’t have much personality. In fact, most of the stuff in the apartment is from Jean anyway, but Eren found that he liked not having to put work into his own apartment. 

“I don’t know, I just never really bothered. I don’t want to live here forever and besides, I have a roommate.” He rubs the back of his neck and he walks deeper into the apartment, hoping the other will follow. “Speaking of which, I wonder where he is?” Eren looks around and calls out for Jean while making his way into the kitchen. 

“Maybe he isn’t here?”

“Mmm, probably not. He’s probably with Marco trying to figure out how to ask him out.” Eren says nonchalantly while starting the electric kettle. “Coffee?”

“Marco? You mean the intern? I knew they were at least friends, but I didn’t realize they were a thing. And yes, coffee sounds great thank you.” Levi sits at the bar style counter and watches Eren work, admiring the way his muscles move beneath his thin cardigan. 

“Yeah, it’s not a big deal and Jean is an idiot, but I guess Marco finds it endearing or something.” He says while picking out some coffee grounds and two mugs.

“Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The idiot being unaware of the others feelings?” 

Eren looks over his shoulder to see Levi smirking at him. “I’m offended. It’s not my fault I have fucking amnesia you asshole.” But there’s no venom in his words, only teasing and he throws a nearby apple at Levi’s head. 

To Eren’s dismay, Levi catches it with ease, smiling and shaking his head. He tosses the apple in the air before saying, “I know. Besides, I’m still here, aren’t I?” He tosses the apple back to Eren. 

“I suppose.” Eren simply smiles in return, replacing the fruit to its home in the large bowl on the counter. He finishes preparing their coffee and takes his place in front of Levi, leaning with his elbows on the counter, mug in hand. 

He takes his time to appreciate Levi. He’s wearing a very form fitting black long sleeve shirt with equally form fitting black pants. As much as Eren always appreciates the way Levi styles his hair, today is especially amazing. His inky black hair is pushed away from his face, while a few small strands have made their way back onto his forehead. Eren catches the glimmer of earrings in the man’s ears and realizes they’re actually small, black gauges. How did he not notice how hot Levi looked earlier? His grey eyes are more pronounced than ever against the all black outfit he’s wearing now and with the fact that they’re more exposed with hair pushed back. 

“Like what you see?” Comes the man’s low voice, causing Eren to look shyly down at his cup. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so obvious.”

“I mean, you look like you want to eat me, but I don’t necessarily mind that.” He says, hiding his smirk behind the rim of his cup. 

“I just, wow, holy shit, you look amazing today. And here you are, sitting in my apartment like some damn art piece. How am I not supposed to look at you like that?” Eren almost looks pained as he talks, having placed his mug down in order to talk with his hands. 

Levi laughs, a full, genuine laugh and Eren decides it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. He pushes off the counter and walks around to stand behind Levi. Eren wraps his arms around his chest and rests his chin on his shoulder. He not-so-subtly takes a deep breath, appreciating the smell of citrus, amber, and musk. Suddenly, Eren is hit with memories of them. Of being close and holding each other, giggling in secluded corners of the office while stealing kisses from one another. 

He lets out a content sigh and softly leans his head against Levi’s. He feels fingertips brush against his face as they make their way to the back of his neck, gently holding him in place. 

“You wanna tell me about it?” He asks Eren softly.

“Mmmm, I’m just remembering some moments we had together.” 

Levi pulls his hand away and quickly turns around to look at Eren, taking in his striking green and honey brown eyes. He blinks a couple times, seemingly processing what the brunette just said.

“You— you _remember_?” His voice a mere whisper, as if anything louder will scare away the reality of the moment. 

Eren simply hums in agreement before pulling Levi into a bone-crushing embrace, breathing in his scent deeply. He buries his face in the crook of Levi’s neck, even so much as feeling the quickening pulse there. Levi’s arms wrap around his waist, pulling him closer as well. As if close will never be close enough, until the two of them become one. 

“Y-Yeah, I do. Oh, Levi.” he sniffles, overwhelmed with happiness, “I don’t ever want to forget you again.”

“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll do everything we can to make sure that never happens again, okay? I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.” Levi reaches up to place his hand against the side of Eren’s head, gently rubbing his thumb over his temple. 

They sit like that for a while, unconcerned with how uncomfortable the position might be, simply enjoying the feeling of being in the arms of the other. Eren knows there’s still holes in their story, things he can’t remember, but he hopes those too will come back just like the others. He pulls away slightly, enough to look Levi in the eyes and drinks in the deep pools of grey-blue that stare back at him. There’s something in his eyes that Eren can’t quite put a pin on, but he does know that he likes it. Would give anything to see that look every day of his life. 

Unable to find words to describe how grateful he is for the moment, he chooses actions instead of words, and pulls Levi in to kiss him. They both taste like coffee, but with Levi there’s a faint remnant of mint. Always mint. He doesn’t know why and doesn’t care because it is entirely Levi. The feeling of Levi’s soft lips moving against his is enough to make him dizzy. Their slow movements start to get more heated while their tongues battle for dominance with one another. 

Eren grabs a fistful of shiny black hair and gently tugs, pulling his head back slightly. Levi lets out a soft moan and looks up at Eren with lidded eyes. Their lips still close enough to touch, but not moving, simply savoring the closeness. Eren’s laughs and it’s soft and breathy, his smile slowly creeping across his face. 

“You’re lucky I’m too turned on to smack you right now.” Levi growls. 

“Mmmm, I don’t think you would.” Eren responds with a cheeky grin. 

He moves his mouth back to Levi’s before he can reply, picking up where they left off. He moves his hands down to Levi’s hips, gripping firmly, before moving them further down onto his ass. He’s about to lift Levi off the chair when they hear the sound of shoes stopping on the hardwood floor beside them. Eren whips his head to the left, a shocked look on his face, and Levi simply shakes his head. He gives Eren’s chest a light tap, indicating to move back a bit so he can stand. 

“Oh, don’t stop because of me.” Jean laughs.

Levi gets up anyway and moves to shake the others hand. “I’m Levi. You must be Jean, Eren’s roommate. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too.” Jean smiles. “Wow, I’m sure glad I didn’t end up bringing Marco back here. Wouldn’t want him to be scarred for life and still have to work with the two of you.” He pulls out another barstool and sits to talk with them. Levi moves back to his and Eren stands next to him. 

“Wait, how did you know I work with Levi?” Eren asks, the words finally setting in. 

“Marco talks a lot, he mentioned someone named Levi and he fit the description. It’s not hard to put two and two together, Yeager. Why? Trying to keep this a secret? Little forbidden office romance?” He wiggles his eyebrows at them.

Levi chimes in before Eren can, “No, not really. We only became official this morning. It’s a bit of a long story actually. I’m sure Eren will be happy to fill you in at some point.”

Jean shrugs and gets up to rummage through the fridge, still talking though a bit muffled. “Ehh, not really a concern honestly. You two seem happy and at least I don’t have to listen to Eren complain about being single anymore.”

Levi looks up to see Eren’s wide eyes staring at Jean. “I do not! I said that once, I don’t know, months ago?” 

“Yeah, maybe.” Jean replies, holding a cold piece of pizza with his mouth as he opens a soda. He puts it down before replying again. “Like I said, I don’t really care either way. As long as you keep it down and move the headboard away from the wall.” And with that, the ash blonde boy walked into his room and closed the door, leaving them alone again. 

Eren slumps over, leaning his head on Levi’s shoulder and letting out a loud groan. 

“There, there.” Levi pats him on the back, chuckling. “He could’ve walked in on a lot worse.”

“Levi!” he smacks the other man’s bicep only to be met with hard muscle, something he isn’t one to complain about. 

“I know, I know. You did say you wanted to be public about this, so at least it’s not like we’re trying to hide anything anymore.” The dark haired man shrugs as he gets up and grabs Eren’s hand. “So, wanna show me your room?” He asks with a wink. 

The taller boy stutters, not sure how to respond to the question. It’s not like they’re teenagers living at home where it matters, but he still doesn’t want to assume anything. He knows that as much as he would love for things to move quickly, he’s also not in any rush. 

“Hey, brat, it doesn’t have to be a big deal you know? I was just trying to rile you up honestly.” He smiles, gesturing for Eren to lead the way. 

“O-oh, right. Of course, I knew that.” Eren pulls Levi down the hallway to the last door on the right. 

Levi walks in and sits on the edge of the bed, surveying the room, which is decent sized. His queen sized bed is centered against the left wall, a dresser across from it on the right wall, and a large window across from the door. The furniture is made of lighter wood and the sheets are bright white and look as soft as clouds. Everything else is decorated in dark, muted greens and blues with spots of bright yellow. It’s calming, yet colorful, and very Eren. There’s a faint scent of vanilla that clings to everything, but not in an overwhelming sense, and it’s mixed with notes of cinnamon. Warm and inviting, just like Eren. 

“Now this is more like it.” He looks at Eren, who looks nervous. As if Levi’s approval will change whether or not he redecorates his entire room overnight. Eren nervously rubs his neck, still standing in the doorway. “You gonna come over here or just stand in the doorway?”

“O-Oh uhhh, yeah, heh.” Eren closes the door behind himself and moves to sit next to Levi. Unsure of what to do, he picks at his nails nervously. 

“What happened to all that confidence you had ten minutes ago, huh? Nervous?” Levi asks, running his hand through his hair, although the same stray pieces fall back onto his forehead. 

“Maybe?” Eren looks at him out of the corner of his eye. 

Levi laughs a little to himself before moving back onto the bed with his back against the wooden headboard. He pats the spot next to him and holds his right arm out from his body, inviting Eren to sit next to him. Eren catches on and quickly scoots back, sliding next to Levi. At first he feels awkward, just sitting upright with Levi’s arm around his shoulder, but after moving down resting his head against his chest, he feels more comfortable.

“Better, Brat?” Levi asks with amusement in his voice.

Eren can feel the vibrations of his voice in his chest and finds it soothing. “Mhmm.” He hums happily. 

“Good.” 

Eren feels Levi pulls his body closer, so he wraps his own arm around Levi’s waist. He sighs and closes his eyes, enjoying the moment. “Want to watch a movie?” He asks Levi, not opening his eyes.

“Yes, but I’m not watching any stupid romance movies or shit like that.” Levi replies, flicking Eren on the waist. He squirms in response and looks up at Levi pouting. “Oh, don’t give me that look.” And he flicks him again, secretly enjoying the cute pouty face he has. 

“I wanted to watch a scary movie in the first place.” Eren mumbles, still pouting. 

“Mhmm, I’m sure you’re just saying that as an excuse to stay wrapped around my body like a damn koala.”

“Are you saying I should move?” Erens pretends to pull away, causing Levi to increase his grip. 

“Absolutely fucking not. I went without touching you for months, your cute little ass is staying right there.”

“Mmkay, sounds good to me. The remote is on the nightstand next to you. There’s Netflix and Hulu on the tv, we should be able to find something between those two.”

The two fall into a comfortable as they search for a movie, communicating only in small hums and head shakes. They finally settle on one called Sinister, an older movie that neither of them have seen. Eren pulls a throw blanket from the edge of the bed and drapes it over them. He wiggles around a little to get comfortable and even nuzzles his cheek into Levi’s chest a bit all while the other is smiling happily. 

They initially believed that the movie wouldn’t really be scary, but that it would still be worth a watch. However, by the end of it, both of them were huddled under the blanket and Eren went as far as to hide behind the edge of the blanket, not caring how lame he might look. 

The two shared a look, silently agreeing that they’re both scared out of their minds. Knowing only one surefire way to combat their uneasiness, Eren pulls up Disney plus and puts on Ratatouille, his favorite. 

Levi looks down at him and smirks. “Have you got a thing for the French?”

“If you mean French rats, then yes. I love this movie.” Eren replies with a look of mild confusion. 

“Je suis Français. Je ne suis pas un rat, mais tu sembles m'aimer assez.” Levi says, poking Eren on the forehead. The brunette looks up at him with shock written all over his face, but it quickly changes to a look of excitement. 

“You speak French?!” He whispers in reverie. 

“Je fais. It’s not a big deal though.” He shrugs.

Eren smirks and in a flash, swings his leg over Levi’s body, effectively straddling him. He leans over and gives the man a quick kiss before smirking a little. “Will you talk dirty to me in French.”

“You’re serious?” Levi lifts an eyebrow at him and Eren quickly nods his head in agreement. He rolls his eyes before adding, “You’re a weird kid, you know that?”

“Yeah probably. Don’t care though.”

“Tu as de la chance que tu sois si mignon ou je te pousserais hors du lit.” 

“Ohh, what does that mean?” Eren asks, an excited twinkle in his eye. 

“Oh rien, chérie.” He leans up and silences any more words from Eren with a kiss. He pulls back after a few long seconds, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, ‘kay?” He softly kisses him again before pulling Eren’s body flush with his own. 

“Mmkay, if you say so.” Comes a muffled voice. He smiles against Levi’s chest and slips his arms underneath him, trapping them close together. The two lay there for a while, unsure of how much time has truly passed, but not caring in the slightest. Their slow breaths eventually fall in sync as they both fall to sleep, soothed by the warmth of the other’s body. The silence in the room signaling the end of the movie causes Eren to wake up and he quickly notices that his arms have gone numb. 

He grumbles and tries to pull his arms out from underneath Levi without waking him, but his plan doesn’t work. Levi breathes in deeply and shifts a little under Eren. He gently rubs Erens back before the man rolls off of him onto the bed. 

“What time is it?” He asks the brunette, who is now shaking his arms above his body. “And what are you doing?”

“My arms fell asleep, which is partially why I woke up I think. And it’s,” He cranes his neck to look at the clock, “just a little after eleven. Do you need to leave?”

“Tomorrow's Saturday, yeah?” Levi asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Mhmm. Thank god, too. I don’t think I could handle going to work tomorrow.”

“Mmm, yeah this weekend really couldn’t come fast enough.” Levi sits up and crosses his legs, lazily putting his hands in his lap and looking down at the sleepy boy next to him. 

“You know,” Eren props himself on his elbow to get a better look at Levi, “you’re always welcome to stay the night. You know, if you want that is.”

Levi pretends to contemplate before telling Eren that he would love to. “I don’t know if anything you own will fit me properly though.”

“Yeah, ‘spose not. You’ll just look really cute in all of my stuff because it’ll look so big on you. Do you think my shirts will be like dresses?” 

“Watch it Yeager, I’ll still kick your ass.”

“See, I’d believe you, but I think you like my ass too much to hurt it.” 

With that, Eren jumps out of bed before Levi can make good on his word, knowing full well that he actually would. In the closet, he rummages through some sleep shirts before finding one that is actually a bit small on him. He walks out and tosses it to Levi while making his way to the dresser to find bottoms. While looking through his drawers he looks back at Levi, “Hey, do you want pants or shorts? Those might be a little trickier honestly.”

“I’ll just sleep in my boxers then, not a big deal.” He shrugs. 

Eren’s cheeks flush at the mental image and he looks away quickly, hoping Levi hasn’t noticed. “U-Uh, yeah sure whatever you want.” 

He hears rustling behind him as the other changes. Not wanting to linger, he quickly grabs a pair of blue pajama pants and runs into the adjoining bathroom. One look in the mirror tells him that the blush along his cheeks and even up the tips of his ears could probably be seen from space and it only increases when he hears Levi laughing quietly on the other side of the door. 

“Hey, Eren, do you have a phone charger? I can’t find it.”

“Uhhh, yeah it should be by my nightstand.” He calls from the bathroom.

“Huh? I can’t hear you very well. Just open the door a bit.” 

Eren does just that and peaks into the room. He’s met with Levi standing at the foot of his bed, his old high school shirt on and just passing his hips, and only black boxer briefs covering his lower half. There’s nothing he can do but stare at the incredibly toned legs in front him. His mind begins to wander to less than pure places when he hears Levi clear his throat. He looks up to see Levi smirking at him, clearly amused by the obvious staring. 

“Umm, I said it should be by the nightstand. On the left side. It, uhh, may have fallen behind there if you can’t see it.”

“Thanks.” He gives Eren another smirk, before turning and walking away. 

If Eren thought the view from the front was great, he is now in awe at the view from behind. While Eren is still ogling, Levi looks over his shoulder and runs a hand through his hair, clearly aware of what he’s doing to the man in the doorway. 

Eren’s gulps and quickly moves back into the bathroom, nearly slamming the door in his haste. He splashes some cool water on his face in an attempt to calm down. How the hell is he supposed to sleep when the man he calls his boyfriend looks like that? He quickly strips and changes his bottoms, fully aware that his lower half has enjoyed the view. He groans and pulls off his shirt before realizing that he didn’t bring a shirt to change into. 

Maybe this could work out in his favor.

He quickly brushes his teeth and then pulls the hair tie out of his hair, letting it all fall on his shoulders. He attempts to smooth it out, but knows that it’s a futile effort. Although, it might work out in his favor if he plays his cards right. 

He grabs his dirty clothes off the floor and casually makes his way out of the bathroom to put his clothes in a hamper in his closet. He can practically feel the other man boring holes into his skin, not that he’s mad about it considering this is what he planned for. When he turns around to face the bed, he’s met with a view of Levi sprawled out on the bed, staring at him like he’s a dessert he can’t wait to eat. 

“Like what you see?” He asks, repeating Levi’s question from earlier. 

“Oh, yes. Tu es tellement belle, Eren. Come here.”

The brunette practically moans and quickly jumps into bed, turns off the light, and slides underneath the fluffy duvet. 

“God, we’re like a couple teenagers, aren’t we?” Levi laughs, pulling the blanket over himself as well. 

They both lay on their sides, facing each other in the dark, moonlit room. 

“Mmmm, yeah maybe. But I like it.” 

“Yeah, me too, Brat.” Levi sighs softly before pulling Eren close. 

They share a few slow kisses, just enjoying the feeling of being close again. After they finally pull away, Eren tucks his head underneath Levi’s chin and wraps his body around the other, consequently tangling their legs together. They quickly fall asleep like that, happy just to be in each other's arms without a care in the world. All that matters is their softs breaths as they fall into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Je suis Français. Je ne suis pas un rat, mais tu sembles m'aimer assez - I'm French. I'm not a rat, but you seem to like me enough  
> Je fais - I do  
> Tu as de la chance que tu sois si mignon ou je te pousserais hors du lit. - You're lucky you're so cute or else I would shove you off the bed.  
> Oh rien, chérie - Oh nothing, darling.   
> Tu es tellement belle, Eren. - You’re so fucking beautiful, Eren.
> 
> *Sorry if those are awful and wrong, google translate is what I'm working with lol*
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this fluffy, sweet little chapter. I wanted to dedicate a whole chapter to the boys just being cute and enjoying their time together so yeah, that was about 4k of some fluff. 
> 
> Oh! Also, the cologne Levi is wearing that triggers the memories is very specific. It's called Galloway Parfums de Marly I believe? (it's very expensive, don't judge me) But yeah idk, it's the best thing I've ever smelled and it seemed very fitting for Levi.


	6. Lover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! I'm posting this chapter a day early because I'll likely be really busy Monday and won't be able to update then. I think that's it? Wow, what a shock I have nothing to say.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

Eren and Levi spent the next morning in pure, ignorant bliss. Both of them pretending that the world outside of the queen sized bed didn’t actually exist. That Reiner is nothing but a bad dream and when they leave the room, it’ll be as if he never existed. They lay tangled with each other and the blankets, sharing quiet kisses in between their child-like giggling. The bed was heaven and the fluffy duvet was the clouds, providing a perfect home for their heads. But perfect is fleeting and moments like this can’t last forever. 

“I can feel you sweating on me.”

“I don’t sweat.”

“What? That’s not even possible.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what you think.”

“Levi, unless you’re a vampire like I hope you are so I can live out my Twilight fantasy, you definitely sweat. Like, you have to.” Eren looks down at the other man, who is sprawled across his chest. 

“How old are you again? Twilight, really? And Edward? Why him?” He glances up through narrow eyes. 

“Wait, you’ve seen Twilight?!”

“I’m thirty, not eighty, yes I’ve fucking seen Twilight.” He deadpans.

“Okay, fair. But then, does that mean you’re what, team Jacob or something? Everyone knows Edward is far superior.” 

“Mmmm, it’s possible.” Levi minutely shrugs. “It’s also possible I have a thing for tall, tan, dark haired men.” He looks up and smirks at Eren.

“You’re ridiculous.” But he laughs anyway because he loves these moments with Levi. Nothing truly serious about their conversation.

✾✾✾

An hour later and they’ve both managed to drag themselves out of bed and make their way out into the kitchen. Eren rummages through the fridge, trying to find something he can throw together to make a decent enough breakfast for them and Jean because if he knows his roommate, he’ll be out the second he smells food cooking.

“You know, we could just have cereal or some shit.” Levi sips his coffee as he observes Eren.

“Um, no. Absolutely not. I’m not about to make you eat cereal after your first night staying here. What kind of boyfriend would I be?” Eren says, more exaggerated and loud than necessary, but much to Levi’s amusement. 

“You’d be a normal boyfriend, you lunatic.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Shut up, you don’t get a say in this.” Eren points at him with his free hand, having grabbed the ingredients for french toast with his other hand. 

“Are you sure you don’t have a weird French thing?” He smirks at Eren, knowing he’s just riling him up more, but loving every second of it.

The brunette turns back to Levi, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. He snaps his mouth shut before replying. “I’m going to throw away your secret stash of expensive coffee in the office. Don’t think I don’t remember about that now.”

“Mmm, that’s a bold threat, Yeager. Sounds like you want to go back to sleeping alone.” 

“You wouldn’t…”

“Who knows?” Levi responds, a light tone to his voice. “I guess you’ll have to find out, hm?”

Silently admitting defeat, Eren turns back to his task of making them breakfast. He can’t help the small, dopey smile that creeps onto his face as he relives the past twelve or so hours. Having Levi at his apartment and making things official is everything he could’ve ever wished for and more. Behind him at the bar, Levi is sporting a similar smile to his own. 

“You both look like lovesick teenagers, it’s nauseating.” A sleepy voice says from behind Levi. 

Eren turns around, pointing his spatula at the ash blonde boy. “Watch it horseface or you’re not getting any breakfast.”

Levi visibly struggles to stop himself from spitting out his coffee at the nickname as Jean plops himself down on one of the empty barstools. He places his elbow on the counter and props his chin in his head, looking sleepily between the two. 

“Yeah, well your big mouth woke me up so it only seems fair to me.” He mumbles as he looks at Levi from the corner of his eye. “Did you guys fuck last night?”

“Jean!” Eren sputters.

“What? It’s an honest question. It’s about time your ugly mug got some action.” He turns a little more to look at Levi. “Well?”

“Well, I did have trouble getting out of bed this morning.” Levi says calmly, knowing it’s actually a lie.

Jean crinkles his nose and looks at Eren. “You know, I regret asking. Pass me coffee will ya? I need caffeine if I’m going to survive this morning.” After a few minutes and a couple sips of coffee, he straightens up a bit and looks between the two again, a quizzical look on his face. “I don’t know what’s more surprising, that Yeager would be a top or that you’re a bottom.”

Eren groans and hangs his head, wishing that the floor could swallow him whole. Thankfully, Levi isn’t as easily affected by Jean and just shrugs.

“I never said we were one or the other. How do you know Eren didn’t have the same trouble as me?” He says, all the while looking straight ahead at Eren. 

Jean drops his head onto the counter, mumbling his response. “I should’ve known you’d say something like that.” He sits up straight again and scratches his face, looking over at Levi. “You’re not so bad, you know?”

“Thanks, I guess.” He shrugs.

“Not that pretty boy over there dates a lot, but you’re probably the best person he’s ever dated.”

“Pretty boy?” Levi chuckles a little. He’s always thought that Eren really is quite pretty for a man, but didn’t think other people felt the same way.

“Mhmm. I may not be attracted to the guy, but I’m not blind. Besides, Eren always had guys and girls fawning over him and trying to get his attention. Isn’t that right baby?” Jean laughs at Eren’s clear discomfort of having the spotlight on him. Eren places plates in front of them before sitting on Levi’s other side with his own plate of food. 

“I guess? I never really noticed to be honest.” Eren says simply, before shoving a forkful of food into his mouth. 

“Do I have competition, Eren?” Levi asks, slinging his arm around Eren’s shoulder to pull him close. He plants a soft kiss on his temple before pulling back to continue eating his food. 

The brunette waves his hand dismissively. “Nah. I have a very specific type anyway. Short, pale, black hair, murderous gaze. Not many fall into that category.”

“I’m gonna beat your ass.” Eren leans over and gives him a quick, sticky kiss, thanks to the syrup, to which he tries to wipe away. “Gross.” He shoots him a glare, but knows it has no real effect on the boy.

“You two already bicker like an old married couple.” Jean mumbles around the food in his mouth. 

“And you eat like a horse. I guess the name is fitting after all.” Levi smirks.

Jean glares at him and then Eren. “I changed my mind, I don’t like him.” He gets up and takes his plate with him down the halll. He turns back before walking into his room. “Marco is heading over soon just so you fuckers know. Don’t embarrass me.”

“Aye aye, captain.” Eren laughs, doing a small salute. 

The two finish up their breakfast in a comfortable silence. To Eren’s dismay, Levi makes him clean up the kitchen and do the dishes, claiming he’ll make him sleep alone again if he doesn’t do it. They make their way over to the couch in the living room after, with Eren cuddled up against Levi’s side. 

“Anything in particular you wanna do today?” Levi questions while slowly running his fingers through the other’s hair. 

“Mmm, not particularly? We could just hang around here, watch some movies, maybe cook dinner together later? I have to respond to some emails at some point, but that’s the only important thing I need to get done.”

“Shit, we really are an old married couple, kid.” 

Eren reaches up and tries to smack Levi, but he’s easily pushed away. 

“Hey, I never said I minded. I am an old man anyway.” Levi resumes running his fingers through Eren’s hair, finding the motion calming. “In any case, how about I head to the store and pick up some ingredients for dinner and you stay here and finish your work? That way you won’t have to worry about it later.” He looks down at the boy in his lap and smiles. 

“Yeah, I like that idea. What’s for dinner?” He looks up, bright eyes shining. 

Levi pokes him on the forehead. “It’s a surprise, don’t worry about it.”

Eren gives him his best puppy dog eyes and sticks out his bottom lip. He knows it’s unlikely that Levi will actually fall for it, but he has to try anyway. 

“You’re cute as fuck, but it’s not gonna work, brat.” He leans over and plants a kiss on his forehead. “Now hop up so I can head to the store and get it over with.”

Levi watches in amusement as Eren makes a spectacle of getting up, grumbling and dragging his limbs around as if it physically pains him to move from his spot in Levi’s lap. 

“Always with the dramatics, huh?” Levi gets up and stands in front of Eren, gently holding his face. He leans over and plants a sweet, passionate kiss on his lips before heading to the door. 

“ ‘M not dramatic.” Eren falls back against the couch, arms crossed.

“Mhmm, sure you aren’t.” Levi looks back at his boyfriend, one eyebrow lifted. 

“Whatever, go to the grocery store and leave me here to wither away without you.” He falls to his side on the couch, fully aware at this point of the spectacle he’s putting on. 

“Don’t miss me too much.” Levi calls back as he heads out the door. “And make sure you lock this behind me. I’ll call you when I’m back so you can help with the groceries. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Eren throws an arm over his eyes, fully intending to just take a nap but knowing he really should get up and lock the door first. Begrudgingly, he does just that and then reclaims his spot on the couch, already falling asleep within minutes.

✾✾✾

After stopping at home to shower and change into something casual, Levi finally makes it to the grocery store down the street from Eren’s apartment. He would’ve gone to one closer to his own place, but he didn’t want to drive so far with all of the groceries sitting in his trunk. Before he got there, he already had a plan of what to make for dinner, so he opts for a small basket instead of a larger cart, not wanting the temptation of being able to load up more items that he doesn’t actually need.

He’s trying to pick the perfect artichoke for the spinach artichoke dip he wants to make when a large hand crosses his line of sight. Slightly startled by the sudden intrusion of personal space, he takes a step back and glares at the owner of the hand. The person finally takes notice and looks over at him. 

“Oh! Sorry man, I didn’t mean to startle you I was just trying to grab a couple for myself.”

Levi just grunts in response and turns his attention back to the vegetables. He hates people being in his personal space and wishes the person would’ve just asked him scoot over instead of reaching around him. 

“Hey, I like that shirt.”

Levi looks at the man as if he just told him the sky was purple. “Huh?” He looks down at his old, worn out band shirt. “Oh, right. Uhh, thanks.” 

“I used to listen to My Chemical Romance all the time growing up. Great band.” The man gestures towards the shirt and Levi leans back a little, not wanting to risk being touched.

“Right. Again, thanks.” He starts to leave, having picked out his artichoke already and wanting to be left alone again. However, his plan fails when the man steps into his path. 

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know a nice flower shop around here, would you? I wanted to buy some flowers for someone, but I want them to be really nice and I wanna be able to have them delivered.” 

Levi pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to make it obvious how annoyed he is by the man’s presence. “No, I don’t, sorry. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish shopping. I have somewhere to be.” 

“Oh right, sorry man. I didn’t mean to hold you up or anything. Thanks anyway!” The man waves and walks away, finally leaving Levi to finish his shopping in peace.

He makes his way to the front of the store fifteen minutes later, basket loaded with ingredients, to get in line where he catches sight of the man again. Before he can look away, the man sees him and gives a small wave, which Levi ignores. As he steps outside with his purchases a few minutes later, the man is seemingly waiting outside for him. A little weirded now, he tries to walk past and pretend he doesn’t notice but the man steps in his path anyway. 

“Hey, sorry to be weird and basically wait out here for you, but I was hoping I could bother you again real quick.” He smiles and waits expectantly for an answer. 

“Why don’t you just fucking google your question instead of asking me?” His voice clearly showing his annoyance, but somehow not deterring the man.

“Well, I could, but locals always know best right?”

Levi rubs a hand down his face in exasperation. “Fine, if it means you’ll leave me alone sooner.” 

“Awesome! Yeah, so I was just wondering if you know of any good restaurants close by? I wanna ask someone on a date and I want it to be really nice. Make a good impression, you know?” 

“Is this some weird, round-about way of asking me out? Because I’m not interested.” A bored expression on his face in the hopes the man will get a hint. 

“Oh, no,” the man laughs, “I’m actually interested in someone else. My type is more of the tall brunette category.” He laughs again and looks behind himself, as if trying to find someone. 

“Mm, I see. Well, Maria’s is good and that’s really all I know. I don’t go out much. Good luck, I guess.” Levi walks away and doesn’t give the man a chance to pull him back into the conversation.

✾✾✾

Back at Eren’s, Levi begins prepping dinner after the two spent a nice couple hours lounging around with one another. A perfect lazy Saturday. Usually Levi stays at home and gets ahead on work, unless he’s dragged out by Hange or Erwin, which happens frequently. The three of them went to high school together and used to frequent punk shows and things like that. Typical wannabe rebellious kid stuff.

While Levi preps in the kitchen, Eren mopes on the couch again, complaining that Levi won’t let him in the kitchen to see what he’s making. 

“If I knew I was going to date a literal child, I might have reconsidered.” Levi calls from the kitchen. 

“Mm I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t want to miss out on this ass.” Eren smiles to himself from his spot on the couch. 

Levi leanes around the corner to get a better look at his boyfriend. “You’re lucky you’re cute you little shit.” 

“I know.” Eren peaks over the back of the couch to see Levi trying to hide a smile and laughs at the sight. His oh-so-serious boyfriend in worn out black jeans, a band shirt, freshly painted black nails, and a forest green apron with cats on it. It’s a sight he never wants to forget. Levi rolls his eyes but let’s a little smirk show before moving back into the kitchen. 

“You know, I never took you for a punk guy.” 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, brat. I used to have a nose piercing and everything.” Levi finishes preparing the stuffed chicken and puts it in the oven before washing his hands and starting on the sides. 

“Yeah, you’re really full of surprises.” Eren voice calls from the couch. 

Levi just smiles to himself and says quiet enough that Eren doesn’t hear “I hope to keep surprising you forever, kid.”

✾✾✾

Monday rolls around after a weekend of lazy times on the couch and bad romantic comedies and of course lots of cuddling. The two arrived separately as Levi went home late Sunday night as he didn’t have anything he needed for work the next day.

Their great weekend spent together allowed Eren to momentarily forget about everything with Reiner. He made his way through the office, happily stopping to chat with his coworkers on his way to his personal office in the back. 

“Hey, Eren!” He turns around to see Marco jogging to catch up to him, holding a small stack of papers. “Sorry, I forgot to hand these to you earlier. Just some voicemails left over the weekend it seems, nothing urgent.” 

“Thanks, Marco. Oh, also, I wanted to ask, would you mind getting everyone coffee this morning? I’ll give you my card.” He flips through the notes absentmindedly. 

“Yeah of course! I’d love to. The usual place we go to, right?” He smiles at Eren, small lines crinkling by eyes. 

“Mhmm. My card is in my office, I think I’m gonna work from the back room for a few hours. It has better light and no one goes in at this time so I can make some calls too.” He pockets the papers in his dark jeans and gives Marco a small wave as he walks towards the back. “Oh, and treat yourself too for once. If I hear you paid for yourself, I’ll kick your ass.” The freckled boy just laughs at him and waves him off as he walks towards Eren’s personal office. 

As suspected, Eren finds the back workroom empty. He sets up his laptop at a back table by a window and gets to his task of responding to the messages. There’s not many, but he always likes to be thorough and ensure that each client gets the attention they need, even if it’s just a simple question. He listens to music through his headphones as he works as well, not wanting to bother anyone else with the sound of his music. 

After an unknown amount of time passed, Eren felt a light tapping on his shoulder and turned to see Marco sitting next to him, a coffee in hand. He pulled the headphones down around his neck and paused his music, thanking Marco. 

“I’m assuming you got yourself something, yeah?” He takes a sip of the sugary coffee, relishing how much better he feels already. 

Marco rolls his eyes and reaches behind himself to hold up a small to go cup. “Just because you asked so nicely.”

“Good. You’re a great worker, you know? I’m gonna talk to Erwin by the end of the week and tell him I want you on permanently. If you want, that is?” He says nonchalantly, knowing Marco would love nothing more.

Sure enough, the other’s eyes light up as he responds. “Yes! Oh gosh, I would absolutely love to. Thank you, Eren, really. It means a lot. I hope one day I can be back here working with you and not just talking over coffee.” He laughs, scratching lightly at his nose.

Eren laughs. “I would love that, Marco. You have a lot of potential.” He places a hand on his shoulder gently and then with fake annoyance tells him to stop slacking off and get back to work. He watches Marco walk out of the room, smiling slightly to himself. The past few days were nothing short of amazing for him and it seems as though things are truly looking up again. He finally has an amazing boyfriend and a job that he loves with people that he truly cares about. Just as he was about to put his headphones back one, said boyfriend walked into the room. 

He let his eyes trail over his boyfriend, appreciating his outfit as he always does. Today it’s a dark grey button up with the sleeves rolled up and casual looking slacks. His hair is styled in it’s usual way, hanging down and parted slightly off-center. To Eren’s pleasant surprise, his nails are still black and he smiles wider. 

“Hi.”

“Hey, yourself.” The black haired man smiles and walks over to Eren’s workstation. “I’m assuming you were responsible for the coffee Marco gave me that I didn’t ask for?”

Eren tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear and flashes a cheeky grin. “I might be. That a problem?”

“No.” He looks out the window at nothing in particular. “I kind of like the idea of having a sugar daddy anyway, if that’s where this is going.” He looks back and smirks at Eren. 

“Oh?” Eren turns around in his chair and leans back against the table. “I kind of like the idea of someone calling me daddy.” He looks over to gauge Levi’s response.

“I hope you don’t mean kids.” Levi snorts a little, knowing that’s not actually what the other meant. 

“Mmm, no. And in any case, I’m mostly joking. I wouldn’t actually ask that of you.” He shrugs and looks over at Levi to see him trying to hide a smile. 

“You’re cute to think I would say no.” And with that, Levi gets up, kisses Eren quickly, and walks away before he can get a response. 

Eren is left alone in the room rubbing at his mouth, wondering if his boyfriend is serious. He turns back around in his chair and presses his head against the table, groaning loudly. His amazingly hot boyfriend is going to be the dearth of him at work. At this rate, he’s going to need to wear looser pants to work. He sits back up and starts collecting his work, knowing he needs to make his way into his office at some point. There’s only so much he can do from his laptop before he needs to get onto the desktop in his office. 

After gathering his things, he makes his way back, weaving through the other desks in the open area where most of the employees work. He pushes open his office door and set everything on his desk, taking longer than he would like to admit to notice the large bouquet of flowers sitting there as well. His mind hadn’t even been on Reiner in the past few days and the idea that he would be the person behind the flowers never even crossed his mind. He simply assumes it was Levi’s doing.

He smiles a little at the thought and picks up the vase to smell the flowers and plucks the card from the middle. The front had the name of the florist shop they must have come from so he flipped it over, seeing some words scribbled on the back. He reads it, expecting a cute, maybe even dirty note, but nothing prepares him for what he actually reads. 

The vase slips from his hand, crashing to the floor but the sound doesn’t reach his ears. He doesn’t hear the people who come into his office. He doesn’t feel the person wrapping a hand around his waist. He doesn't hear the worried voices. All he’s aware of in that moment are the words on the card.

> My lover,  
>  You have such a lovely office, it’s a shame you weren’t here. I was going to have these delivered, but I was hoping to see you personally. You looked so beautiful while you were working, I didn’t want to disturb you. Don’t worry your pretty little head though, we’ll see each other soon. I’m planning quite the date for us.
> 
> Love, 
> 
> R

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a strong need for punk Levi and I'm not sorry


	7. When Worlds Collide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this isn't really my favorite chapter ever, but I can't think of how to fix it so I hope it's not garbage lol the flow just felt weird to me, but hopefully it's not bad and I'm just freaking out over nothing. Maybe this just means I'll update sooner to make up for it, who knows?
> 
> Also, I love seeing comments and kudos and stuff like that! I will say it every time I post, but it truly means so much that people are reading this and actually enjoying it. Makes me want to cry tears of joy.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

“Eren…”

“Eren…”

“Eren. Wake up.”

He wakes up to the feeling of something cool on his face and the sound of someone familiar calling his name. His vision clears up enough for him to realize the voice is coming from Hange and Levi must be the one holding something cool against his face. 

“Hey, kid. How’re you feeling?” Hange asks quietly, tucking some hair behind his ear.

“ ‘m okay. What happened?” He looks between the two of them.

“Well, it seems that you passed out. Levi and I came in with Marco trying to figure out what the loud crash was, but it seemed like you couldn’t hear us at all. You collapsed and Levi caught you before you fell too hard. Marco is downstairs yelling at security and waiting for Erwin to show up.” The other two help him to sit up and lean him against his desk for support. Levi takes a spot on his left and Hange sits cross-legged in front of him. 

“What? Why would he do that though?

The two share a look before Levi speaks up. “Umm, well, I don’t know if you remember, but you got some flowers and it seems that Reiner brought them up here and left a note for you. Marco is pissed that security let someone up here but it makes sense because he probably played it off as being a delivery guy. Erwin is showing up to discuss keeping him on a watchlist for the building so he doesn’t show up again.”

Eren rubs his head and groans, closing his eyes. How could this be happening to him? He supposes it makes sense, his name would definitely come up in a search engine and it wouldn’t take long to find out exactly where he works. But does that mean this could lead to the man finding his apartment?

He startles a bit when a hand touches his arm, but it’s just Hange. “Hey, why don’t you take the rest of the day off, hm? Get some rest and relax a little.” They look at Levi briefly. “And take grumpy over there. I can only imagine the negative energy he’d bring to the office if he stayed here without you.”

“You know, shitty-glasses, if it weren’t for Eren, I’d slap you senseless right now.” Hange simply laughs in return and gets up off the floor. “Feel better, cutie.” They smile and leave the two boys alone in the office.

“Well, what do you wanna do with your day off?” Levi tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear and smiles at him; one of the smiles reserved only for Eren. 

“Can we get coffee? And pastries? And maybe some french fries or something? I need comfort food.” He looks at Levi, some of the life coming back to his eyes finally. 

“Mhmm. Whatever you want, it’s on me. I’ll drive all over Trost if I have to.” Levi stands and holds out his hand to help Eren up. “Grab anything you need and we’ll head out right now.”

Eren does just that and then grabs Levi’s hand, claiming it as something he needs and he’s simply following the others' orders. Levi only smiles, secretly enjoying the closeness and public affection.

“I do have a question though.”

“Hm?” He looks up at Eren as they head towards the elevator.

“Does this mean you're _my_ sugar daddy now?”

Levi doesn’t even have to look back at him to know there’s a huge shit eating grin on his face. “You’re a little shit, you know that?”

Eren hums in agreement and kisses Levi’s temple. They miss a few shocked glances from coworkers who happened to catch sight of the interactions, but they couldn’t care less.

✾✾✾

Some things are worth looking past in a relationship, like small mannerisms or little habits that aren’t necessarily deal breakers. At the end of the day, the feelings you have for that person should trump those small little things. They shouldn’t be the make or break of the relationship. However, sitting across from Eren in the coffee shop while he shoves a blueberry muffin in his face with all the grace of someone who has never been taught manners, Levi wonders why he chose this literal caveman for a boyfriend. Normally Levi would’ve left the table already or smacked him on the head for being so disgusting, but all he does is internally cringe as he tries not to watch. He can’t keep his eyes away though, it’s like a car crash.

Eren finally finishes the muffin and takes a more civilized sip of coffee and looks up at Levi. It’s then that he remembers why this man is his boyfriend. When he looks into those different colored eyes, he already feels his own features softening and when he smiles, his heart does too. This man has such a hold on his heart and he knows, with complete sureness, that he is head over heels in love. Love like a lovesick teenager. He would do anything to look into those eyes and see that smile every day of his life. Eren Yeager has his heart in its entirety and he never sees that changing. 

“Sorry.” Eren mumbles sheepishly, likely noticing that Levi was uncomfortable. 

“It’s alright.” He takes Eren’s hand and kisses it softly. “It’s not about me right now, I just want you feeling better.”

“Thank you, really. I appreciate you so much.” He smiles and takes another sip of his coffee before getting up. “I’m going to the restroom really quick, be right back.”

Levi just nods in acknowledgement and pulls out his phone to entertain himself. He opens Facebook for the sole purpose of looking at cat memes. He’d never tell anyone, but he has a soft spot for the little guys. It’s when he’s reading a particularly funny one that he notices a person standing next to him and looks up to see the weird guy from the grocery store. 

“Hey man! Fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh, uhh, yeah I work in the area and I took a day off today so I figured I would come hang out here.” He wishes Eren would come back already so he would have a reason to not talk to the guy, not realizing that the guy in front of him is the reason why he has the day off in the first place.

“Nice. Hey, by the way, I sent the flowers to that guy I was telling you about. I’m hoping I’ll be able to ask him on that date soon enough.” He rubs nervously at his arm.

“Right. Well, good for you.” Levi’s too busy wishing the guy would stop talking to start connecting the dots about the man’s true identity. 

Seeming to finally notice the second cup at the table, he nervously laughs a little and looks back to Levi. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to impose, it seems you’re here with someone.”

“Yeah, my boyfriend actually.” Levi scratches his nose and looks around the brick wall of a man towards the bathroom. _Hmm, no Eren yet._ He figures there must be a line or something especially since there is only one all-gender bathroom. 

“Ahh, should’ve guessed a guy as good looking as you would be taken.” Levi raises an eyebrow at that and the man must have realized how that sounded because he quickly changes the subject. “Hey, maybe we could double date or something after things get serious with me and the guy I’m interested in?”

Not one to sugar-coat things, Levi rolls his eyes. “Look, I’m sure you’re a cool guy or whatever, but I’m really not interested to be honest. I don’t mind exchanging a few words when we run into each other, but that’s about it.” 

“Oh, uhh, right. Sorry to bother you man. Well, enjoy your date, see you around.” He leaves with a friendly smile and wave. 

Levi’s about to scroll through Facebook again when a person he’s hoping is Eren sits in the seat in front of him. 

“Hey, sorry that took so long. The woman in front of me had two kids with her and I can only imagine the struggle she was dealing with in there.” He laughs and picks up his coffee looking around lazily at the other customers. 

“Not a problem. Although this guy I ran into at the grocery store on Saturday saw me and decided to stop and have a little chat. Tch, idiot thought I’d want to go a stupid double-date with him and his boy toy.” 

“Hmm, yeah you don’t strike me as the type really.” He leans over and kisses his boyfriend, smiling ear to ear. “Now, how about my grumpy, emo boyfriend takes me home and helps me forget this day even more?” Eren winks him and wiggles his eyebrows.

Levi grumbles and furrows his brows, saying something that Eren assumed was about him calling him emo. He gets up and holds out his hand, looking expectantly at Eren. 

“Well? Are you going to let me take you home, _boyfriend_?” He lifts a nicely shaped brow, waiting for a response. 

Eren just smiles and lets the beautiful man in front of him take him home, finally beginning to forget the morning he had, even just for a moment.

✾✾✾

Outside the coffee shop, a man watches an exchange. Two worlds colliding in a way he never could’ve expected. The man he’d run into a couple times and had talked to a couple times was, in fact, dating the man he is in love with.

His grip on the coffee he’s holding tightens, threatening to break the fragile cup. _How dare that man take what’s his? After everything he’s done?_ He knows once Eren realizes he’ll treat him better than anyone ever could, he’ll break it off with that other man. 

Seeing the two kiss makes his blood boil because he knows they’re meant to be together, not him and the midget goth. After all, he didn’t go through all this trouble just to have him slip away again like last time. 

He throws the cup away and hangs back, waiting for the two to leave and hoping to have the opportunity to finally find out where he lives. That way, he can just show up to his place and not have to deal with stupid coworkers and other prying eyes. 

He watches the two boys get into a car together as he gets into his own car. He follows behind them, although keeping back enough so as not to make them suspicious. His grip on the steering wheel tightens as he thinks about anyone but him laying their hands on Eren. 

_How dare anyone touch him? Don’t they see how much he cares about him when others don’t? He was the one who was at the hospital everyday watching over him. He’s the one who sent the boy flowers constantly and took him out to a nice dinner. What has this silly boyfriend of his ever done for him? Take him to a lousy coffee shop and call it a date? Eren deserves better than that and he would be sure to show him that no matter what._

He slows down as the car pulls into an underground parking lot, one that unfortunately seems to require a pass of some kind in order for the gate to open. He looks around and sees a smaller lot that must be meant for those stopping by the front office and he finds a spot there. Not expecting this kind of situation, he gets out and heads to the front desk just inside the building. He puts on his friendliest face and leans over the front desk, smiling at the girl behind the counter. 

“Hi, sir! What can I help you with?” She smiles at him, leaning forward on her elbows. 

“Well, I’m planning on surprising a, uhhh, friend with a visit and I noticed the parking garage requires a pass. Is there any way to get in there? I didn’t notice a visitor parking lot of any kind.”

“Oh, well we actually have visitors passes and designated areas inside the garage. What unit is your friend in?” She types something into the computer and looks at him expectantly. 

“Ahh, see that’s the problem,” He laughs and rubs at the nape of his neck, trying to look embarrassed, “I actually don’t know. See, he just moved in recently and I never thought to ask. I do have his name though.” 

He knows this is his chance to find out which unit Eren is in. This way, he’ll be able to find it a lot easier than simply following the boy inside, which would run a higher risk of him being seen.

“Oh! Well, that should work. I can just look him up in the system then. I just have to verify that he’s actually a resident before I give out a pass because visitor spots are unfortunately limited. Once I know the name, I can give him a call to verify you as a visitor as well.”

“Of course! His name is Eren. Eren Yeager.” He smiles at her as she types on the computer, a confused look coming over her face. 

“Hmm, I don’t seem to have that name here. Does he have a roommate? Maybe it’s under their name?”

“Ohh, uhhh,” he starts to panic, wondering what he should say, “I actually don’t know his last name, I just have a first name. I should be able to find it in an old text though. Oh, and to be honest, we just started dating and I want to surprise him with some flowers I have in the car. I was hoping you’d be willing to not call him because then he’d know I’m here from out of town and it would ruin the surprise.” 

“Sure thing, take your time! There’s a seat to your right if you’d like.” With that, she turns back to her computer and whatever task she was working on prior. 

He wanders over to the seat off to the side and quickly does a search for someone named Levi at the company Eren works for. Thankfully he at least knows that much information, and with how much information is made public with big business like the one Eren works for, he knows he should be able to find the last name easily. It takes him about five minutes of searching through the company's personal website to find a name that is likely the right one. 

Levi Ackerman, Head of Finances. 

He smiles to himself and heads back to the woman’s desk, cockier than ever. “So, I found the name, it was a little ways back since we talk all day every day. Looks like it’s a Levi Ackerman?” 

She types for another minute or so before looking back up to him. “It seems like he’s in apartment 104. That’s going to be on the top floor, floor ten.” She scoots away from the desk a bit and rifles through some files in a drawer below her before pulling out what looks like a key card. “Now, this will get you into the garage, just pick a spot that has a visitor sign. It has to be returned in 24 hours unless the resident themself comes down and requests an extension. And to be honest, we don’t really do much about it, those get lost or taken by accident all the time. Also, I’m not actually supposed to give this out without the resident here, but I’m a romantic at heart and it’s just so sweet that you want to surprise him like this.” She winks at him again as she passes the key card over. 

“You’re my savior, you know that?” He flashes his best smile at her as he walks away. 

She waves him off dismissively. “Oh please, I’m happy to help a fellow romantic.”

“Well, thanks again.” He calls back as he walks outside.

He knows he won’t be returning the pass any time soon, but the girl at the desk doesn’t need to know that. He pockets the key card and gets back in his car, heading back to his hotel. He was hoping this would be Eren’s apartment and not the boyfriend’s, but he knows he can use it in the event that he can’t find Eren’s before he has to head back to Sina. 

With one last look at the building in his rear view mirror, he smiles knowing he’s one step closer to getting Eren to truly be his.


	8. Love Spell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmmm, so that explicit rating is finally starting to serve its purpose... the first half of this is just smut because, well, isn't that partially why we're all here? It's my first time writing it so if it's bad I'm sorry I cursed your eyes. (I also didn't get a chance to fully edit the chapter) If you don't want to read it at all, you can skip down to the paragraph that starts with 'thoroughly spent...' I promise it's safe after that. 
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

The two boys lay on Levi’s couch, enjoying each other's company and the bad movie that is currently playing on the tv. Eren is lying on top of Levi, his head resting on his chest as he tries not to fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. He smiles to himself, knowing he’s already falling hard and fast for the black haired man underneath him. 

He wiggles around a little to get comfortable and settles deeper between Levi’s legs, which have somehow tangled with his own legs. He’s torn between giving in to his sleep or testing his luck and trying something. Not one to back down from a potential challenge, however, he wiggles a little again, but this time with purpose, grinding his hips a little in the process. 

With no reaction, Eren starts to wonder if Levi is oblivious or just pretending to not notice what he’s doing. He fakes a yawn, stretching a bit, then settling back down with his hand on Levi’s hip. He slowly slides it underneath his shirt, which finally gets a reaction. 

“What are you doing, brat?” He looks down at Eren, an amused look on his face.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Eren responds, feigning innocence. 

“Oh really?”

Eren finally shifts to look up at Levi, a mischievous look in his eye. “Well, it depends.”

“On?” Levi runs his fingers through Eren’s long hair.

The corner of Eren’s lip turns up as he lifts himself up to get closer to Levi’s face. He places his hands on either side of his head and settles himself into his lap. Levi reaches up and grabs onto Eren’s hips, rubbing his thumbs along his hip bones. 

Eren moves one hand to the side of Levi’s face and kisses him. It’s slow at first, just soft kisses as they enjoy being close. Soon enough though, Eren picks up the pace and opens his mouth a little more to allow Levi to slip his tongue in. As the kiss gets more passionate it also gets sloppier until their teeth clash together. Eren pulls back and they both laugh a little and smile before diving back in. 

He moves his hand from Levi’s face down to his hip to toy with the hem of his pants. He slowly slips his hand underneath his shirt, but stops right at his stomach. He pauses a little, enjoying the soft ridges of Levi’s abs. Deciding the thin fabric of his shirt is getting in the way, he tugs a little on the end of it, signaling that he wants it to be taken off. Levi obliges and pulls it off before grabbing Eren’s to pull it off as well.They both take a moment to enjoy the sight of each other. Levi lets out a low breath and slightly shakes his head. 

“Fuck, Levi. I knew you had muscle, but holy shit.” Eren’s eyes are wide as he takes in the sight of his boyfriend lying beneath him. 

Levi chuckles a little. “Shut up and kiss me you idiot.”

“Happily.” Eren says as he kisses Levi again.

They make out for a little longer, alternating between borderline feverish and small, little pecks. Eventually, Eren decides it’s now or never and he moves his hand back to Levi’s pants, his hand hovering over the button. He looks at Levi, waiting for him to give green light. 

Levi smiles and tells him it’s okay to keep going and he does just that without hesitation. He skillfully pops the button and pulls the zipper with one hand, then pulls back a little to try to help Levi slip the pants off. After a little bit of awkward struggling due to the confines of the couch, they manage to get them off and onto the floor. Levi is left lying there in only his black boxers.

Eren plants a few more kisses on Levi’s lips before moving to his neck. He starts by kissing softly before moving to gentle nips and sucking lightly on the skin, not wanting to leave any marks that are too dark. Levi tilts his head to the side, allowing him better access and lets out a soft sigh at the feeling. His hands are wrapped around Eren’s shoulders, fingers digging into the skin. 

After thoroughly abusing the skin in his neck, Eren moves down further and takes a nipple into mouth, flicking his tongue across the top of it lightly. He gently bites and drags his teeth along it, causing Levi to suck in through his teeth. Eren moves to the other and gives it the same attention. He trails his mouth down further, shifting a little to nip at his hip bone. He moves down the slope of it and bites, sucking a little harder than before knowing that no one else will be able to see anything left here. At this, Levi lets out another soft moan and moves his hands into Eren’s hair. 

“You little shit, if you keep teasing me I’m going—” He’s cut short as Eren yanks his boxers down, releasing his cock and licking the length of it. “Fuck…”

Eren just smiles and pulls his boxers down the rest of the way. He looks back up and appreciates the way his cock looks laying against his stomach. With one hand placed on one of Levi’s hips to hold him down and the other around the base of his cock, he flicks his tongue over the tip of it. He slowly swirls his tongue around before running his tongue down towards the base of it and back up again. Once back at the tip, he opens his mouth and takes the head into his mouth, running his tongue around the tip again. 

Levi moans and grips Eren’s hair tighter, urging him on. Getting an idea, Eren pulls back and sits up, looking down at Levi to see a pained look on his face. 

“You better have a good reason for stopping.” He narrows his eyes, hoping for a good explanation. 

“I do.” He smirks. “Now stand up.”

“Huh?”

“Just do it, Levi. Trust me.” He winks and with that, Levi quickly stands up and watches as Eren moves to kneel in front of him. 

Eren looks up at Levi and opens his mouth, sticking out his tongue. Levi looks down, seemingly unsure of what this might mean. 

“Levi, trust me. Despite what you may think, I can deepthroat like a fucking champ.” Levi’s eyes widen at that and he almost says something before Eren interjects. “Now, are you going to fuck my face or not?” He lifts an eyebrow and smirks up at Levi. 

“Fucking hell.” Levi whispers and reaches down to caress Eren’s face. He runs his thumb along his jaw and then moves it to his bottom lip, gently pulling it down. He moves it back up and slips it into his mouth and lets out a groan as he starts to suck on it. Eren closes his eyes a bit, but opens them quickly when he feels Levi pull his finger out. 

He sees him reach for his cock and opens his mouth again, tongue out. Levi slowly slides it in and Eren closes his lips around it. He places his hands on his hips lightly and starts moving his head a bit. He feels Levi’s hand wrap into his hair and tug a little and he moans at the feeling, causing Levi to grit his teeth. 

He pulls almost all the way off before taking his cock back in, relaxing his throat to take him all the way down. He stops once his nose brushes against trimmed hairs and looks up to see Levi staring back down at him, mouth hanging open looking completely wrecked. He pulls back slowly and reminds Levi that it’s okay. He only nods in acknowledgment before slipping his cock back into Eren’s mouth. His grip on his hair tightens again and Eren moans as his pace picks up. 

Never once does he break eye contact as he feels the head of his cock repeatedly brush against the back of his throat, but he loves every second of it. Loves the feeling of how hot and firm it feels against his tongue. He feels a few involuntary tears slip from his eyes just as Levi pushes him all the way down again and holds him there for a second before pulling almost all the way out. He quickly slips back into the heat of Eren’s mouth and picks up the pace, feeling his orgasm quickly building. 

“Fuck, Eren, I’m…”

Eren just nods, telling him it’s okay. He thrusts quickly a few more times before pushing all the way in and holding him there, letting out a load moan. Eren can feel the hot liquid as it goes down his throat and some of it collects in his mouth as Levi pulls back, allowing him to breathe better. Once he’s done, he pulls out entirely and looks down at Eren’s completely wrecked face and knows that he probably doesn’t look much better. He sees that some of his cum dripped out of Eren’s mouth and he’s about to say something when Eren brings a thumb up to swipe over it. He locks eyes with Levi before sticking his thumb in his mouth and sucking it clean, pulling it back out with a loud pop.

“Fuck, Eren.” Levi’s voice is low and throaty. He runs a hand through his sweaty hair and reaches down to pull Eren off his feet and moves them both over to the couch. He runs his fingers through his hair and tucks back a few strands, smiling softly at him. Eren leans in and captures his lips for a soft kiss. 

“Jeez, kid. If I knew you had a mouth like that, I would’ve jumped you the second I got you alone.” He runs a hand through his hair again pushing the sweaty strands off his face. He looks around for his boxers and grabs them off the floor to put them back on. 

Eren just laughs and kisses his cheek. “What am I supposed to say, huh? ‘Hey, Levi, I can deepthroat some pretty big dicks, wanna see if I can do the same to you?’” 

“Uhh, yeah actually.” Levi looks at him with a serious expression.

They both stare at each briefly before bursting into a fit of laughter. Once they calm down enough, Levi wips a stray tear and looks back at Eren. 

“In all seriousness, I think that’s the best blowjob I’ve ever had in my life. Which means I think it’s only fair that I at least try to return the favor.” He says this as he moves onto the floor to kneel in front of Eren. Being a man of his word, Levi does just that and leaves Eren in almost a worse mess than he was earlier. 

Thoroughly spent, the two lay on the couch again for a minute before Levi insists that they both need to shower. Not liking the idea, Eren tries to straddle Levi who is less than amused by his antics. 

“Don’t even think about it you horny brat. I need to eat something before I even think about letting that dick of yours anywhere near me again.” He glares a little at Eren, only causing him to laugh. 

“Fine, but can we shower together? I promise I won’t try anything.” He gives Levi his best puppy dog eyes and bats his eyelashes at him. 

Levi rolls his eyes and smiles a little. “You’re lucky I love you.” He gets up and starts to walk away before realizing the gravity of what he just said. Panic starts to set in as he looks back at Eren, nervous about what he’ll see. 

But he’s only met with the biggest smile he’s ever seen on Eren’s face, and that’s saying a lot. Eren jumps off the couch and pulls Levi into his arms, effectively knocking the wind out of him. He feels Levi wrap his arms around his back and rest his head into the crook of his neck. Softly Eren whispers “And I love you” smiling again and feeling like he’s on cloud nine.

“You mean it?” Levi pulls back a little to look at Eren, searching his eyes for any hint of regret.

“Of course I do.” He kisses Levi and smiles. “I know this is technically new, but I also know that my feelings for you aren’t, memory loss or not. I feel so close to you despite still not fully remembering everything, that must be a sign. And, well, how could I not fall for you?” He rubs the side of Levi’s face and feels Levi lean into the touch, letting a smile fall across his face. 

Levi reaches up and places a hand over his. “I’m so happy to have you back, Eren. It may not be the same as before, but that doesn’t matter because this is better.”

And with that, the two head into the bathroom to shower together. True to his word, Eren doesn’t try to fool around even though he wants to. While he’s busy shampooing Levi’s hair he does, however, take the liberty of trying to give him a mohawk. He can’t help but start giggling to himself. It takes Levi a second to catch on, but once he does he just sighs and crosses his arms. 

“Are you having fun back there?”

“Mhmm.” He feels Eren push his hair up again while giggling. 

“Alright, you’ve had your fun now let me rinse it out so we can get out before we both turn into prunes.” 

“Fine. Fine.” Eren laughs a little and steps back to allow Levi more room. 

The two finish up, put on some clean clothes, which for Eren means the biggest pair of sleep shorts he can find and a shirt that Hange must have left behind that surprisingly fits Eren. 

Back in the kitchen, Eren pulls himself up onto the counter while Levi finds something for them to eat. 

“How does grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup sound? I made the soup last night so it’s definitely still good.” Levi asks, still looking through the fridge. 

Eren swings his feet, hands gripping the counter on either side of his legs. “That sounds like heaven right now.” 

Levi hums in agreement and pulls out some ingredients. He looks at Eren sitting on the counter and just smiles to himself as he works. 

“What?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. You just really made yourself at home, I like that.” Levi leans up to kiss him, but pulls back when he hears Eren giggling. 

“Do I want to know?” His eyes narrow, not liking the way Eren is looking at him.

Eren giggles again, clearly trying to hold it in, but failing. “It’s just, well, you had to really get on your tiptoes there for a second.” 

“Get out.” Levi starts to shove him off the counter, causing Eren to laugh even harder. “Holy hell, Eren. How do you weigh so much?” 

“I’m sorry! I take it back.” Eren breaks into hysterical laughter, tears falling freely from his eyes. 

“No you aren’t. Now move your ass out of my kitchen before I smack it.” He gives him another shove for good measure. 

“Oh, promise? Maybe I’ll stay now.” He leans closer to Levi, trying to smirk but failing because he’s still laughing too much. 

“I regret everything.” Levi pinches the bridge of his nose before turning back to their food. “Did you put a spell on me to get me to love you or something?” 

“Sure did.” Eren hops down from the counter and quickly kisses his cheek before moving to sit on the couch. 

With Eren out of the kitchen, Levi finishes up their food and takes a seat next on the couch with Eren . “So, I really think we should talk about everything that has been happening with this Reiner guy.” 

Eren sighs. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I just, well… I just don’t know what to do. Can I even prove that it’s him if I report it?” 

“Well, I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t hurt right?” Levi takes a bite of his sandwich and watches as Eren seems to think over something.

“It wouldn’t.” He picks at the crust of his sandwich. “I don’t know, I guess I just feel like it wouldn’t do much. Maybe I should just talk to him?”

Levi rubs at his mouth. “I don’t like that idea, Eren. Besides, how much of what he’s said from the beginning is true anyway? What if he’s been lying since you met him? Wouldn’t he just continue to lie to you?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Eren sighs again and starts eating his food. 

“Do you remember anything about him from before your accident? It might help you to figure out what’s causing him to act this way.” Levi knows there’s something not right with the story Eren has been told. It just doesn’t match up, but neither of them can seem to figure out exactly where Reiner fits in. There has to be someone in Sina that has some information on the guy.

“No, not really. I can’t seem to remember anything about him, I just believed what he said.”

“You know, maybe that’s what it is…”

Confused, Eren looks up from his food. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, we know he lied about living in your building, right? What if he lied about knowing you beforehand too? It would only make sense considering everything else seems to be a lie. What if you never actually went on a date with the guy and he just used that as an excuse to get you to trust him?” As much as he doesn’t want to think it could be true, Levi knows they have to consider every possibility. 

“Yeah, I mean, that makes sense, but then that wouldn’t explain how he knows about my accident and memory loss in the first place.” Eren places his plate on the coffee table, too anxious to eat anymore.

“Well, maybe we need to take a trip this weekend and see if we can find anyone that knows anything.” Levi reaches across the gap between them and pulls Eren close, knowing he needs to comfort. He runs his hand through his hair, playing with some of the longer strands. Eren scoots in closer, wrapping his arms around Levi. 

He looks up at Levi and smiles. “Thank you for being here with me for all of this. I think that trip sounds like a good idea. Someone has to know something about him.” 

“Of course, I’ll always be here to help. We can leave Friday after work if you’d like?” He kisses Eren’s head and rests his chin there. 

Eren just hums his agreement and leans into Levi so that they’re both laying down on the couch. It doesn’t take long for either of them to fall asleep, the stress of the day finally taking its toll on them. Come the weekend, they can only hope to find some of the answers they so desperately need.


	9. New Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, I'm alive!! I apologize for no updates for the past few weeks. Life got crazy and I had no time to write. This chapter isn't really long, I know, but it was more meant to help move the story along. I didn't proofread much either so I'm sorry if there's glaring mistakes. Hopefully in the next chapter or two we'll start getting some more answers though! If you're still here, thank you so much for not giving up on me! And if you're new, welcome! I hope to have another chapter again soon and not have weeks in-between updates again lol
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

Friday after work, Eren finds himself sitting in Levi’s car anxiously waiting for them to leave for the weekend. He had packed his bag ahead of time to avoid making a trip to his own apartment and further delaying their departure. They wanted to get to Sina as early as possible so they could get settled in order to get an early start on Saturday. It was impossible to know exactly where to begin their search, but they would just have to start asking around and hope that someone would be able to help them. At this point, it seemed to Eren that they were working on borrowed time. Reiner had already made it known that he knew where Eren worked and was willing to go to great lengths to get close to him. 

He looked out the window at the building of the coffee shop Levi was currently in, wondering what could have led to all of this. On one hand, he now has an amazing boyfriend that he loves, but on the other, he apparently has a stalker that came all the way to Trost and just to try to see him. Maybe he should confront him? It really could help, but it could also make things worse. What if he tries to hurt the people around him because Eren refuses to date him? 

Levi finally walks out of the building, two to go cups in hand, black hair gently blowing in the breeze. Eren can’t help but smile at the man despite the war waging in his head. The last thing he wanted was to drag Levi into this, but he’s also thankful to have someone by his side. He feels safer knowing Levi will be with him this weekend because if he wasn’t, Eren doesn’t know if he’d be able to go through with it. Just the thought of being back in Sina where Reiner lives gives him goosebumps. For all they know, he could still be in Trost and they won’t even have to worry about running into him, but it can’t be guaranteed and the risk isn't worth it. 

Eren turns his head at the sound of the car door opening and reaches across to grab the cups from Levi so he can get into the car more easily. 

“Thanks, brat.” Levi smiles at him and gets situated before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. 

Eren reaches across the center console and grabs his hand, smiling up at him. The smile doesn’t fully reach his eyes and he knows Levi can tell, but thankfully he chooses not to comment. He knows the reason for this trip isn’t necessarily a good one, but he hopes it’ll bring them closer to ending whatever is going on. 

“Hey, Levi?”

“Hm?” He glances over at Eren to see a pained look on his face. 

“I'm really nervous about all of this, so thanks for being here with me.” 

Levi reaches up and strokes his face, keeping his eyes on the road. Eren leans into his touch and sighs. “Eren, you know there’s no place I’d rather be. Now, let’s try not to dwell on it during the car ride, hm? We can talk more about this when we get to the hotel.” He moves his hand back down to intertwine their fingers together again. 

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Eren turns to lean his head against the window and watch the trees go by. Soon enough he falls asleep, making the few hours drive pass by much faster. He feels a gentle nudge on his shoulder and slowly opens his eyes to see that they’ve arrived at the hotel. 

“Hey, we’re here.” Levi tells him softly, not wanting to speak too loud since he just woke up. “How do you feel about dropping our bags off and then going to get some food?”

Eren yawns and stretches a little in his seat. “Mmm, yeah that sounds great. Can we get beers?” He smiles sleepily at Levi, melting his heart just a little.

“Of course, whatever you want.” Levi leans over and gives him a quick kiss before getting out of the car and grabbing their bags from the trunk. They check in and take the elevator up to the fourth floor, wasting no time in dropping off their stuff and heading back out for food. 

The two settle on a bar and grill style restaurant, not wanting anything too fancy. Their waiter seats them quickly at the end of the bar and tells them their server will be with them shortly. Soon enough, a short girl with blonde hair walks up and greets them. 

“Hello guys, I’ll be your server for tonight. Can i get you started with anything?” 

“Uhh, yeah can we both get a stout beer and some waters?” Levi asks, both of them having decided on the same drinks already. 

“Sure thing!” The waiter smiles and walks off to put in their drink order. They both decide on burgers and fries and put in their food order with her when she comes back with their drinks. 

“So,” Levi takes a sip of his beer and looks at Eren, “where do you think we should start?”

“I don’t even know.” He leans back in his bar stool, fiddling with his cup in front of him. “I mean what do we even do? Start asking people if they know him? I feel like that’s trying to find a needle in a haystack, don’t you?”

“I guess you’re right. Maybe we should’ve had a plan before we came here, huh?” 

Eren laughs a little. “Yeah probably. But hey, you’re the one who’s supposed to be old and wise, shouldn’t you have thought of that?” 

Levi rolls his eyes and lightly grabs him by the chin. “Watch who you’re calling old or you won’t be getting any tonight.” Eren’s eyes widen before he starts laughing, stray tears falling from his eyes. Levi looks at him in confusion. 

“Oh please, as if you’d be able to resist all this.” Eren sticks his tongue out, barely missing Levi’s thumb. 

“You cheeky little, brat. I’ll never stop saying it, but you’re lucky you’re cute.” The corner of his mouth turns up slightly, unable to hide his amusement at the beautiful man in front of him. He leans in and steals a quick kiss, but not before rolling his eyes. 

Before they can pull apart, a male voice gets their attention. 

“Hey, I couldn’t help but overhear that you two are trying to find someone?” The man looks between the two of them. 

Levi is the first to respond. “Oh, yeah actually. Do you think you could help?”

“Mm, probably.” He shrugs as he polishes some wine glasses. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve worked at this place for almost eight years, five of which have been behind the bar. I know just about everyone who lives here.” 

“Would you know a guy by the name of Reiner? Tall, blonde, built like a brick wall?” 

The bartender laughs at Eren’s description, but then looks slightly uncomfortable. “Uhh, yeah I know him. We went to school together, why?” His gaze shifts between Eren and Levi.

Eren scratches the side of his face and looks at Levi, trying to gauge whether he senses the shift in demeanor as well. “Well, I was here for work recently and came across him. Umm,” Eren pauses, not sure how to go about explaining the situation, “well, I had an accident and suffered some minor memory loss because of it. Reiner says we went on some dates before my accident but I can’t seem to remember anything. I’m just trying to find out who he is.”

“Ahh, I see. Well, I have his number. You know, if you wanted to get into contact with him?” Eren can’t help but notice that the man looks rather uncomfortable with the topic. 

“Actually… wait, what was your name? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch it.” 

“Oh! It’s Bertolt, but you can just call me Bert.”

“Well, I’m Eren and this is Levi.” He indicates between the two of them, and Levi nods in acknowledgement. The server brings their food over at that moment and they thank her before turning back to their conversation. “Anyway, as I was saying, I don’t need his number. Quite the opposite I guess. He— how do I put this… I think he’s stalking me.” Eren says quietly. 

Bertolt sighs and places the glass down. He shakes his head and looks around before turning back to Eren and Levi. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

Levi and Eren stop mid bite, shocked by the statement just made. 

“What do you mean by that?” Levi asks cautiously. 

“Well, it’s just that it wouldn’t be the first time he’s gotten rather obsessive over someone. And by someone I mean me. See, we actually did date for a bit during and after high school, but once I started working here more, he got really possessive and weird about how and with who I spent my time.” Eren and Levi nod, showing him that they’re listening and to continue his story. “So yeah, I brought it up to him and of course he denied anything. Saying he was just worried about me, stuff like that. But eventually he would show up here every shift I had and would stay the whole time. I broke up with him eventually, told him I couldn’t take it. He did like that obviously and everything escalated. He wouldn’t leave me alone and I ended up getting a restraining order so he’s not allowed to come here anymore. That’s the long story short.”

“Sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it?” Levi looks at Eren, clearly bothered by the information. 

“Did you date him?” 

“No. Well, I went to dinner with him once that I know of, but he claims we went out a few times prior. He showed up to the place I was staying at, saying he lived in the building and that’s how we met, but I learned he doesn’t live there. He eventually figured out where I work back home and showed up and left me flowers. I can only imagine that he’s been following me and I don’t know it.”

Something finally clicks in Levi’s subconscious and he turns to Eren, wide-eyed. How could he have missed something so blatantly obvious? “Umm, Eren…”

“Huh?” Eren bites off half a fry and turns in his chair. 

“I’ve met him. Multiple times, actually. At least, I think so.”

“W-what?!” Eren chokes on his food a bit. 

“Uhh, yeah. I can’t believe I never made the connection, but he’s the guy from the grocery store and the one from the coffee shop. He was talking to me literally minutes apart from when you were sitting with me and when you were in the restroom.”

“Oh my god…” 

Bertolt now looks visibly uneasy. “Listen guys, there’s really not much I can do since I really don’t want to get involved with him in any way. But I can tell you that he works for some real estate company, Sina Estates, or something stupid like that. That’s the best place to find him. I do have to get back to work now, but best of luck to both of you.” He smiles sadly and walks away to the other side of the bar. 

Eren sighs and rests his head in his hands. “How the hell did I get into a situation like this? This fucking sucks Levi.” He lifts his head and looks at his boyfriend. If he could read Levi’s mind, he would know that a part of his heart broke seeing Eren so distraught. 

“I know.” Levi gently tucks away a loose strand of brunette hair and kisses his temple. “C’mon, I’ll pay and we can head back to the hotel for the night, try to get your mind off of things for now. Tomorrow morning, we can contact the hospital and his work and see if anyone knows anything. We just need to figure out what happened for him to be this way because I don’t believe a word he’s said. And maybe when we get back to Trost we can start the process for a restraining order or something. One step at a time though, sound good?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right. I know I shouldn’t be worried about the why, but if I never know, it’ll haunt me.” Eren sighs as he gets off the bar stool and holds his hand out for Levi while he waits for him to leave some cash for their food. 

The rest of their night progresses uneventfully. They may not have a lot more information, but now they at least have where he works and they know that Levi has actually come into contact with him multiple times. It might not be much help at all in the long run, but to them it’s a step in the right direction; every bit of information matters. They tuck in for the night, showered and exhausted from the day and knowing that they have a long day ahead of them tomorrow. Before falling asleep, they agree to head to the hospital first thing in the morning to see if they know anything about Reiner. They know that it's likely that he was there at some point as a visitor while Eren was still unconscious. Someone has to know something that will make all of the pieces finally fit together once and for all.


	10. Bartenders and "Boyfriends"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! As promised, I'm here with another update! I really like this one, so I hope you guys like it too. I don't wanna say too much and give anything away, but I think things are finally picking up here. If there's any glaring errors please let me know! I wanted to give a quick thanks to anyone who as left kudos, comments, subscribed, anything like that. You're all amazing and I'm so thankful for you guys still hanging around! I read all comments, even if I don't respond because I'm terrible at remembering to do that I'm sorry.
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

Early Saturday morning found Eren and Levi at a hospital in Sina. More specifically, the hospital Eren went to for his accident. They’re only hope is that someone will give them the answers they need. 

“Are you ready for this?” Levi looks up at Eren, their hands intertwined and Eren all but crushing Levi’s hand.

Eren takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them and looks down at Levi. “Yeah, I think so. What’s the worst that can happen right?” He grimaces a little, knowing that there really is a lot that could go wrong. Levi simply nods and leads them both inside to the reception desk where a girl with short, dirty blonde hair sits. 

“Hi, how can I help you two?” She looks up briefly from her paperwork, clearly not giving them all of her attention. 

Eren steps forward and looks to Levi for reassurance. “Uh, hi. I was wondering if you could help me out with something. I was here in the past couple months and there’s just some questions I had.”

Without looking up she responds, “Well, I might be able to help you, but it depends on what you wanna know.”

He shifts uncomfortably on his feet. “Right. Well, I guess I was just wondering if there’s any records of visitors. Do you guys keep that kind of stuff?”

“I think so?” She looks up and takes her glasses off, rubbing her eyes. “I’d need a date and your name. It’d probably take a while, but I could probably find the log somewhere. I just started recently so I’m no expert.” She puts her glasses back on and starts typing something on her computer, clearly trying to look for something. “Okay, so thankfully we do put everything into the computer. I should be able to find you if it’s been kept up to date. Name and date you were here?”

“Eren Yeager.” He spells it out for her, knowing there’s probably multiple ways his name could be spelled and, realistically, his more unique spelling could help narrow things down quicker. He tells her roughly when he was here, but can’t recall the exact dates. He leans his right arm on the counter and smiles at Levi who hasn’t moved away from his side. 

Thankfully she’s able to find his information pretty quickly and she looks back up at them. “Okay, I just need some I.D. from you to verify that this is you. Can’t be giving out information to just anyone.” She takes his license from his and double checks the information before handing it back. “Alright, Eren. So, it looks like you were here for a head injury. Stayed about a week. Says here you were brought in by a boyfriend, claiming you slipped and fell on some ice. It looks like you only had one visitor, I’m assuming the boyfriend.” She quickly looks at Levi. “Came by a couple times before you woke up. What exactly did you need to know about the visitor information for?” She looks up again, really taking in their faces finally only to see that Eren looks rather pale. 

Noticing Eren’s change in mood, Levi reaches up to put a comforting hand on his back. He looks down at the receptionist and sees the confusion all over her face. 

“The man, uhh ‘boyfriend’. What did he look like? Do you know?” He narrows his eyes at her, already assuming the answer. 

Clearly still confused, she looks between the two men. “What do you mean? Are you not... ? O-oh, I’m sorry, I just assumed you were the boyfriend, you two seem very close.” 

Levi sighs and pulls Eren closer, as if they weren’t already as close as possible. “I am his boyfriend, but I wasn’t at the time of his accident. In fact, Eren was single at the time.” He pauses, remembering that they were sort of dating during the time. “Well, I wouldn’t say _single_ , but in any case, the only person he was even remotely in a relationship with was me and I was never here. None of his friends or family were able to visit actually and besides, mister stubborn over here insisted that none of us come.” He playfully nudges Eren with his hip and manages to get a small smile and an eye roll in return, which is more than he could ask for at this moment. 

“I see… well, I could try to contact the doctor assigned to Eren, see if they remember anything?” She starts reading over something on the computer again. 

Eren nods and turns to Levi and leans down to kiss his forehead, earning a scowl, but with no real venom behind it. He laughs and pokes the faint lines between Levi’s eyebrows. “You know, for someone whose face is actually almost permanently like this, you don’t have a lot of wrinkles.” 

“Are you trying to get your ass kicked Yeager?” He lifts one well-groomed eyebrow at the tall brunette. 

“Nope.” Eren leans in closer to whisper in his ear. “I can think of better things to do with my ass anyway.” He laughs softly and pulls away to see a faint blush on Levi’s cheeks and shocked look on his face before it quickly turns back to its usual state. 

“Brat.” Levi mutters under his breath and looks away, willing himself to not have dirty thoughts in a hospital reception area. 

Eren laughs heartily and throws an arm over Levi’s shoulders, momentarily feeling a bit lighter. Neither had been paying much attention to the receptionist, so it was a surprise to both of them when a short blonde woman appeared behind the desk.

“Oh, uhhh, hi there. I’m Eren, this is Levi.” Eren smiles and rubs at his neck nervously, wondering how long the woman has been standing there. 

“Nice to meet you both, my name is Annie.” She smiles softly, keeping her hands tucked in the pockets of her lab coat. “What can I do for you? Hitch here said you two had some questions? I only have a few minutes unfortunately, so we will have to make this quick.” 

“Right. Umm, I was just wondering if you remember the man that visited me while I was here a couple months ago? I’m sure you see countless patients so I understand if you don’t remember.” Eren shrugs a little. He hopes she can answer his question, but he knows it could be a lot to ask for to expect her to remember him let alone the visitor he had. But it may be something that will continue to move them in the direction of having the answers he’s seeking. 

She gives Eren a look and shakes her head. “How could I forget eyes like those, huh?” She takes her hands out of her pockets and walks around the desk to stand in front of them. “Of course I remember you. Half the staff wanted to be the one to take care of you. It’s not every day we get a beautiful man like you in this hospital. You’re a lucky one.” She looks at Levi and winks. “Anyway, the point is, I do remember you and I do remember the man that was here with you. I know him, actually. I went to school with the guy. He was always pretty nice, but I don’t really know much about him. So, you say he was claiming to be your boyfriend, correct? And that it’s not true.” Eren and Levi nod in agreement. “Okay, and I’m guessing you’re here because of something to do with him then?”

“Yeah, he knew where I was living when I was here and claimed to live in the same building, saying that’s how we met, but the building manager said he definitely does not live there. He also found my place of work back in Trost and showed up without my knowledge, leaving me flowers a creepy note. There’s other things, but it might take a while.”

She leans against the counter and crosses her arms, clearly realizing the problem. She tells the receptionist to have another doctor take over something for her and then leads Eren and Levi to an empty area of the waiting room. “Alright. Do you remember how you got to the hospital?”

“No, I don’t, I just remember waking up and one of the nurses filled me in on what was going on. The receptionist mentioned Reiner brought me in claiming to be my boyfriend, but I don’t remember that.” He subconsciously touches the small scar on the back of his head. 

“Yeah I do recall he was pretty unhelpful answering questions. Said you fell while you two were walking and he didn’t know what to do so he brought you here instead of calling an ambulance, which is pretty normal I suppose. Nothing really seemed super out of the ordinary to be honest. He was just quiet and looked a bit nervous. Although now I suppose he was hoping someone you knew didn’t show up and ruin his cover.” 

Eren slouches down in his seat, exhausted and feeling as though they’re just running in circles at this point. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe Reiner is telling the truth about their meeting and he just fell in love and got obsessed. But he knows there’s reasons why the story can’t be entirely true. It just doesn’t fit and Eren is starting to feel as though he may never get the answers he needs. He’s about to get up to leave when her hand darts out to stop him. 

“I think I just remembered something. And it may be nothing, but I guess anything helps right? Well, I do recall one time I was standing outside your door maybe a day after you were admitted. He was on the phone and I tried not to eavesdrop, but it happens sometimes.” She looks a little sheepish, but continues. “So yeah, he was on the phone saying something about trying to clean something in his apartment, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. I think he was asking the person for help. Called him Bert, or something like that? I’m not totally sure on the name. But he seemed, I don’t know, anxious about it? Like he was panicking about getting it done as soon as possible. I just remember it seemed odd that he was so freaked out about getting something clean, but I’m not here to judge.” Annie tucks a loose strand of hair back and looks at Eren, seeing the freaked out look on his face. 

“You said he called the person Bert?” Eren says slowly, hoping he simply misheard her. 

“Uhhh, yeah. Why? Do you know that person?” 

“I guess you could say that.” Eren looks at Levi to his left and instantly knows that he’s probably thinking the same thing: _What the fuck is going on?_

✾✾✾

_What are we going to do?_

“I-I don’t know, okay? This wasn’t supposed to happen. What did you say to him?”

_Well, I told him I know you—”_

“You what?!”

_Listen, I lied okay? Don’t worry. I told him we went to school together and that we dated, but that you got a little too intense and now you’re not allowed to come around me or my work.”_

“Bertolt. Why, the fuck, would you say that? Now he’s going to think I’m crazy! I mean, he probably thinks I’m some creepy stalker at this point. He’s never going to believe me easily now.”

_”I’m sorry, okay? I just didn’t want him to know that we’re friends. I panicked when I saw him and realized they were talking about you and I wanted to know more about what he thought of the situation so I tried to play along like I’d experience the same thing so I could get him to trust me. I was trying to help!”_

Reiner sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand, the other on the steering wheel of his car. He’s almost back to Sina. He left as soon as he saw Bertolt’s text that morning about Eren being in town. He had no idea that Eren had even left Trost, but now he’s on the road home sooner than he expected, but maybe it’ll benefit him to be on his home turf. 

“I know, I know. It can’t be changed now, what’s done is done. I just need to find him and convince him that I’m the true love of his life. No one else. Listen, if he comes back, just keep up the lie, but only talk about it if you have to, okay?” 

_”Okay, I can do that. So, what are you going to do anyway? I mean he has a boyfriend…”_

“You don’t think I know that? Bert, I just have to convince him that he doesn’t know what he really wants. That I’m the best choice for him. And besides, this time I’ll be more careful. It won’t end up like last time.”

There’s a sigh on the other end of the call. _”I hope you’re right. Mostly because I’m not about to help you clean your damn carpet again. That was a nightmare.”_

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to hurt him again if I don’t have to. Besides, last time was an accident. Mostly. Anyway, I gotta go. I’m gonna stop to get food and I should be back soon. Bye, Bert.”

_”Okay, see you later.”_

He presses the end call button and then signals to get off the freeway. There’s only about an hour left of the drive, but he doesn’t want to make any unnecessary stops once he’s back in Sina. His only priority when he gets back is Eren. Getting Eren back at any cost.

✾✾✾

“Do you want to stop for some late breakfast?” Levi glances over at Eren who has been staring out the window since they got into the car after leaving the hospital.

“Mm, I guess so.” 

“I know you’re a bundle of nerves right now, but you should really eat something and I need to eat too.” He spots a local diner down the road and decides to just stop there whether Eren likes it or not. 

“Eat my ass.” Eren grumbles, glaring at Levi. At this point, Eren isn’t sure if he’s hangry or just in a shit mood after their conversation this morning. Probably both if he’s honest with himself. 

“As wonderful an invitation as that would be any other time, I think I’ll have to pass in favor of some real food.” He smirks and looks at Eren who is clearly trying to force away a smile. 

“I hate you.” Eren sticks his bottom lip out, further pouting.

“I love you too, baby.” Levi reaches over and strokes his hair before flicking his ear. “And that’s for being a pain in my ass. And not in a good way.” Having thoroughly lightened the mood, he pulls into the diner parking lot and picks a spot close to the door. “Alright brat, get out before I kick you out.”

Eren rolls his eyes, but does so anyway. He would never tell him, but Levi was right: he’s absolutely starving. They’re seated at a booth and given menus. Eren decides on the biggest breakfast available and coffee, Levi settles for waffles and tea. 

They sit in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. Eren takes the time to text Armin and Mikasa to see how they’re doing. They don’t talk as often as he would like, but they try to keep in touch when they can. He hasn’t told them about the situation with Reiner, especially not Mikasa. He knows she would hop on the next flight to Trost and put him on permanent lock down while she hunts down Reiner and likely commits multiple felonies. Armin would just worry too much and Eren doesn’t want to put that kind of stress on him. Levi’s soft, deep voice pulls him from his wandering thoughts about Mikasa’s potential violence.

“Hm? I’m sorry I zoned out.” 

“I figured. I was just asking if you’ve spoken to Jean as well. I noticed you texting your other friends.” Levi points at his phone, grey eyes still on him. 

“Ahh, no I haven’t, but I will. He’s probably excited to have the apartment to himself so he can have Marco over whenever he wants.”

Levi scrunches up his nose. “Ew, I really don’t want to think about horse boy and Marco doing anything like that.” 

Eren laughs. A real laugh this time. “You know, they probably feel that way about us.” He quirks an eyebrow at Levi and idly chews on his thumb nail. 

“Gross, don’t do that.” Levi swats his hand away. “Anyway, I’m sure they do, but that’s not really my problem. Doesn’t mean I want to think about anyone else though.” He makes a disgusted face, causing Eren to laugh again. 

Their breakfast comes soon after and they eat in comfortable silence. Afterwards, they head back to the hotel to recoup and figure out their next step. They can’t even talk to Bertolt anymore because if what Annie said is true, then his relationship with Reiner is not the one he wants Eren and Levi to believe. At this point, they don’t know who they can trust other than themselves. 

“So, what should we do now?” Eren asks from his spot on the bed. Levi is sitting on a chair in the corner, reading something on his phone. He takes his glasses off and looks up at Eren. 

“I wish I knew. Maybe we should contact him? Confront him about everything?” As much as he hates the idea, it’s probably their only option now. Something they likely should’ve done from the start as well as reporting him. 

“Yeah, as much as I don’t like it, you might be right. I can text him.” As Eren is scrolling through his contacts, there’s a knock at the door. 

“Did you call for something?” Levi looks at the door and over to Eren as he gets up to answer it. 

“No… and I’m assuming you didn’t?” Eren starts to get up when another loud set of knocks comes from the door, this time startling him. They look at each other, nervous and confused. Who the hell would be at their door when no one else knew they were coming here in the first place?


	11. What a Coincidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! I know this chapter isn't very long, so I know it doesn't make up for my disappearance, BUT I am hoping to actually get back to this. I kind of forgot where I was going with the story to be honest, which is also the reason for my hiatus and this short chapter. I wanted to wrap up the big cliffhanger and get us moving along again though. I'm feeling inspired right now, so hopefully it actually lasts lol
> 
> If you're still sticking around after this long, I thank you tremendously. If you're new, hi hello, I hope you'll stay and enjoy the ride with us. As always, I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a comment!

Levi motions for Eren to back up a bit as he looks through the peephole of the door. His eyebrows furrow as he tries to figure out where he knows the person on the other side of the door. Eren impatiently shoves him aside, earning a scowl from his boyfriend. He looks through the peephole as well and also furrows his brows. 

“Eren, do you know who that is?” Levi whispers, jerking his thumb at the door. 

Eren bangs his head against the door right as there’s another knock.

“Eren! Eren, I know you’re in there. Open the door.” The voice calls from the other side. 

Eren reaches for the handle, but not before a smaller pale hand grips his wrist. He looks down at Levi, who is staring at him as if he’s lost his mind. “You know who that is?” 

“Yes, unfortunately I’m very familiar with that person,” he sighs as he unlocks the door and swings it open to reveal a very angry woman glaring at him. “Hi, Mikasa.” His voice is one of defeat as he steps aside to let her in. “I’m not even going to ask how you know where I am.” He gives her a pointed look, which she is unfortunately unaffected by. 

She moves further into the room and sets her bag on the floor before sitting on the chair in the corner. “I wanted to surprise you this weekend, but when I showed up Jean said you left for the weekend. You know I have your location right?” She looks at him with a bored expression as he sits on the bed next to Levi. 

Eren suddenly regrets ever letting Mikasa have his location because she does stuff like this, however, he can’t help but feel slightly at ease with her and Levi by his side now. Speaking of, the other places a hand gently on the back of his neck, rubbing soothing circles into the tense muscles. 

“You also didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.” Her dark eyes look over Levi before a small smirk starts to form on the corner of her lips. “Long time no see, Levi.”

Eren’s eyes go wide as he looks between his boyfriend and his sister. The longer he looks, the more he sees the resemblance, but he still has no idea how they could be related. If he’s honest, it’s a bit unnerving to have them in a room together. “So, how are you guys related?” He asks as he fiddles with the hem of his shirt. 

“Yeah, Levi, how are we related?” Mikasa asks as she leans back in her chair, a mischievous glint in her eyes. 

He rolls his eyes and pats Eren’s leg before standing up. “We’re distant cousins, it really isn’t anything to write home about.” He walks over to the mini-fridge and grabs a small bottle of water before sitting back on the bed. 

“I suppose.” She shrugs and looks pointedly at Eren. ”Although, I would say that having a boyfriend would fall into that category.” 

“Yeah, sorry.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Anyway, why are you here in the first place?” 

“Well, when I stopped by your place, Jean’s charming little boyfriend told me about some weird stuff that happened at work and that he thought you might have left to try and handle it. So, I tracked your location and came here.”

“I’m going to kill that horse face. I can’t even hate Marco though.” Eren pouts and looks to Levi for backup, which he gets none of. Instead, he gets an unamused look and a flick to the ear. “Hey! What was that for?” He rubs at his ear, pouting even more than before. 

“For being a dumbass and not telling your sister what was going on.” Despite his boyfriend being an idiot, Levi leans over and plants a soft kiss on his temple. 

Eren concedes and spends the next hour or so filling Mikasa in on everything that has happened recently. She listens intently, nodding when necessary and asking questions every so often. It’s clear by the end of the retelling that, while she’s upset with him for keeping this from her, she’s astronomically more upset by what has happened to him. There’s a feral look in her eyes when she asks if they know where he is at the moment and he has to remind her that she’s not allowed to do anything illegal no matter how much she wants to. 

“Eren, I know you don’t want me to personally do anything about this, but you do realize that you can’t handle this on your own right? You need to go to the authorities or something. And I definitely don’t think you should talk to him, especially not alone.” She narrows her eyes at him as if saying she knows he would try to do just that. He won’t say it out loud, but the thought did cross his mind at one point. 

He sighs and looks at her. “I know Mika, really, I do. I think we should contact him about it though. All of us,” he adds when he sees the dangerous look she sends his way. “Yeah, I think I’m going to send him a text later on today and see what he has to say about all this. Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding?” 

He knows he sounds more hopeful than he should be, all things considered, but the alternative is accepting that this guy might be some sort of unstable stalker. Eren isn’t sure if he’s ready for that yet. It’s terrifying to think that someone like that could be following his every move.

Mikasa sighs and gets out of her chair, grabbing her bag as well. She walks towards the door before stopping to look back at Eren. Her expression softens and his heart warms at the sight. No matter how much he complains about his sister being overprotective, he can’t deny that she’s one of his best friends. Levi gives him a small nudge on the back, so he gets up to wrap his sister in a bone-crushing hug. Her arms come up around him after a moment, likely taken aback by the unusual display of affection between them. Eren’s body sags in relief, thankful to have two of the people he cares about most here with him. 

They pull apart, both with soft smiles on their faces. The moment is ruined, however, when Mikasa reaches up to smack him in the back of the head. 

“You know what that’s for. Now, I’m going to my room to take a nap and later we can talk about how to go about talking to this Reiner guy.” She waves goodbye and slips out the door. 

Eren locks the door behind her before returning to his spot next to Levi, rubbing at the sore spot on his head from Mikasa’s impressive slap. He feels a light tug on his hair and turns to see Levi looking at him fondly. 

“I like your sister, she’s good for you,” he says with a small smirk. 

“She hit me and you think she’s good for me?” Eren puts on his best pouty face, but it doesn’t work.

“Yeah, she seems like a good voice of reason for you, brat.” Levi gets up and stands between Eren’s legs and places his hands on either side of his face, squishing his cheeks slightly. He places a soft kiss on his lips, light as a feather. It’s not much, but it conveys more than Levi can say in words. 

Eren’s eyes flutter open to look up at his boyfriend. For just a moment, he lets himself forget his life and all the problems and simply enjoy the fact that he’s happy. 

Levi runs a thumb across his cheekbone and kisses him on the forehead before backing away a bit. “How do you feel about taking a quick nap and then meeting up with your sister after?”

Eren just hums in agreement and falls back against the mattress. After a moment of silence, he cracks an eye open to see Levi staring at him with a hungry look in his eye.

“You don’t really wanna nap, do you?” Eren quirks an eyebrow at him, his cheeks heating up at the implications. There are some days when he has all the confidence in the world, and other days like today, where he just wants to be swallowed up by Levi and the look he’s giving him. It makes him feel flustered, but it’s a welcome feeling at times like this. 

His black haired boyfriend doesn't respond with words; he simply moves to crawl on top of the mattress. They don’t need words right now, just soft touches and soft words. Levi knows Eren needs to forget and so, for what won’t be the last time, he gives Eren everything he wants for the next hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this wasn't disappointing. I'm working on the next chapter right now and I hope it'll be something you guys like!


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